Safer for
Pedestrians Cyclists Drivers You
MassSafe is a coalition of advocates for automated traffic enforcement ("ATE")—safety cameras for dangerous violations like speeding, running red lights, and obstructing bike lanes—to make our streets safe for everyone who uses them. After thousands of preventable crashes across the Commonwealth, we’re done treating this problem as inevitable. Safety cameras save lives and promote fair traffic enforcement. It’s time to bring them to Massachusetts.
The Stories
Our Mission
"She was all I had. She was my best friend."
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On Labor Day evening in 2024, 36-year-old Kristine Andrews was stopped at a Springfield intersection when a vehicle driving over 70 miles per hour struck her, killing her instantly. The crash occurred in a wide, multilane corridor that traffic experts say encourages reckless driving and has been the site of several speeding-related fatalities in the past. The victim’s teenage daughter, now orphaned, said about her mother: “She was all I had. She was my best friend.”
"terrifying and unacceptable"
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On a fall morning two years ago, just after 8 a.m., a ten-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother were walking to school in Lynn when a speeding vehicle lost control, veered onto the sidewalk, and struck and seriously injured both children before crashing into two parked cars. Their father said that speeding and crashes are a problem in the area, and that this wasn’t the first time there had been an accident on his front lawn. In his words, it was “terrifying and unacceptable” that Lynn hadn’t done more to prevent this.
"notorious for high-risk driving"
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In December 2021, 53-year-old Dina Donahue was driving through the intersection of Birmingham Parkway and Western Avenue in Brighton when an SUV ran a red light at high speed and broadsided her car. As the driver fled the scene on foot, Donahue died of her injuries. The intersection where the crash took place—located on one of Boston’s major arterial roads—is notorious for high-risk driving.
"Every single one of these deaths was preventable.​"
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18-year-old Fritz Philogene was biking through the streets of Dorchester when a Cadillac blew through the intersection of Talbot and New England streets and slammed into another car stopped at a red light. That collision sent both cars directly into the path of Philogene, who was struck and killed at the scene. Neighbors and fellow cyclists honored him by placing a ghost bike at the intersection—a practice that has become somewhat of a ritual throughout Massachusetts due to the recent rise in fatal collisions between cars and bicycles. As one ghost-bike vigil attendee observed, "the hardest part of all these is that every single one of these [deaths] was preventable."
The Data
These are not isolated tragedies. They reflect a broader, worsening pattern on Massachusetts roads. Behind each headline is a preventable crash, a grieving family, and a community left wondering why we still lack the tools to prevent the next irreversible loss.
The data confirms what communities already know: Massachusetts roads are becoming more dangerous. Since 2020, nearly 750,000 motor vehicle accidents have been recorded by the Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Of those, over 2,000 were fatal, and the number of crashes has been trending upward over the past decade.
Source: MassDOT
"Roadway safety, particularly fatalities, continues to be at a crisis level in Massachusetts.”
- MassDot Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver
Vulnerable road users—pedestrians, cyclists, and roadside workers—are especially at risk, impacted by about a quarter of all crashes throughout the state. Even more troubling, Massachusetts is bucking the national trend: while pedestrian fatalities declined across the country in 2024, they rose by about 16% here.
Crash Fatalities by Victim Type, 2020 - 2025 (Source: MassDOT)
Speed is a major culprit, contributing to nearly one-third of all traffic fatalities. Red-light running is a leading cause of death at intersections, where a quarter of traffic fatalities and half of all traffic injuries in the country occur each year. Our proposal targets these particularly dangerous traffic violations.
As bike lanes have become ubiquitous across Massachusetts cities, so have vehicles blocking them. These obstructions create safety hazards for both cyclists and drivers by forcing cyclists to merge abruptly into fast-moving traffic. Violations remain widespread in part because they are seldom reported, and when they are, the likelihood of any penalty is exceedingly low.
Despite cities’ Vision Zero commitments to eliminate all traffic deaths, fatal crashes remain an epidemic. Inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws enables dangerous driving and represents one reason why Vision Zero might not be working.
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ATE in Other States...
​Other states are already using ATE to keep their communities safe. Twenty-six states and D.C. already allow ATE for speeding violations. Twenty-four jurisdictions allow ATE for red-light violations. And these cameras work. In New York City, speeding declined by 94% in locations where speed cameras are installed, and in school zones, crashes fell by 15% and fatalities by 55%. Similar reductions have been observed in other cities, including Washington, D.C., where traffic cameras led to a 95% decline in speeding on some roads. Research shows that red light cameras, when properly implemented, have reduced the fatal red-light running crash rate of large cities by 21% and the total crash rate at intersections by 14%.
... and in Massachusetts
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Municipalities want automated enforcement now more than ever—Cambridge, Somerville, and Salem are a few examples of major cities that have renewed their push for expanded automated traffic enforcement within the past year by advancing home-rule petitions for approval by the state legislature.
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