Driver Kills 86-Year-Old Man in Quincy

A person struck and killed an 86-year-old victim during the day last Friday, September 8, according to the Quincy Police Department.

In a press release issued over the weekend, Quincy Police identified the victim as Li Dian Wu, a Quincy resident.

Police responded to several 911 calls at 11:17 a.m. on Friday to find Wu “with serious injuries” near the intersection of the Southern Artery and McGrath Highway, less than half a mile east of downtown Quincy and the Quincy Center red line station.

First responders took Wu to the South Shore Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Police say that the perpetrator of the crash remained on the scene, and as of Saturday they had not filed any criminal charges.

Both the Southern Artery and the McGrath Highway are wide, multi-lane roads, and although there are sidewalks and crosswalks, the intersection includes two slip lanes that allow cars to make right turns without stopping.

This is the second fatal crash to occur at this intersection in the past year. Last November, a driver struck and killed a 53-year-old man who was walking on foot in the vicinity of the same intersection.

According to MassDOT’s crash database, there have been 15 additional injury-causing crashes at this intersection since the beginning of 2019, and another 54 crashes that allegedly only damaged property.

A Stop and Shop supermarket sits behind a large parking lot at the southern corner of the intersection, and the surrounding neighborhood is dominated by drive-through businesses and fast food restaurants.

But in spite of the dangerous, car-centric neighborhood design, the area still gets a substantial amount of foot traffic. Behind the Stop and Shop are two high-rise senior housing apartment complexes, and one block to the west is the South Shore YMCA and the city’s high school. The area is less than half a mile from downtown Quincy and its Red Line station.