Driver Kills 50 Year-Old Woman In Brockton

Police cars block West Chestnut St. in Brockton after a driver struck and killed a 50 year-old woman walking on the street Wednesday morning.
Police cars block West Chestnut St. in Brockton after a driver struck and killed a 50 year-old woman walking on the street Wednesday morning. Photo courtesy of WBZ.

A driver who claims she was blinded by the morning sun, yet continued driving anyhow, struck and killed a woman walking along West Chestnut Street in Brockton early Wednesday morning.

Officials have identified the victim as Chafang Wu, a 50 year-old Brockton resident. Wu appears to have been walking along the southern side of West Chestnut Street, where there is no sidewalk, when the driver struck and killed her just before 7 a.m. at the intersection with Ash Street, near the city’s Kennedy Elementary School.

Guy Pierre, a witness, told WBZ that the driver blamed the morning sun.

“She said (because of) the sun, she could not see when she hit that person,” said Pierre.

In spite of the glare, the driver evidently continued to drive at a speed sufficient to kill Wu and break a roadside utility pole in two.

Police have so far not filed any charges against the driver, who remains unidentified.

Brockton, one of the most racially diverse cities in Massachusetts, also ranks among the commonwealth’s most dangerous cities to be a pedestrian.

Drivers have killed 10 bicyclists or pedestrians in Brockton since 2019, and inflicted non-fatal injuries on another 193 victims in the same period.

Data Confirm That More Fatal Crashes Happen in Commonwealth’s Black Neighborhoods

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