Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu escaped serious injury after riding as a passenger in an unmarked police cruiser that was involved in an accident on Tuesday. Video footage from the area suggests that her driver is likely at fault. Thankfully, nobody involved in the crash was seriously injured.
Wu was traveling in a black unmarked police cruiser. In this case, the vehicle in question was an unmarked Ford Mustang Mach-E police car. Video from the scene shows the accident occurring at the intersection of Hyde Park Avenue and Blakemore Street. Mayor Wu’s driver attempts to turn onto the northbound lane of Hyde Park Ave.
Traffic is already flowing southbound so it seems as though Wu’s driver ran a red light during the maneuver as indicated in the police report obtained by media. It’s clear from the film that the driver of the Ford Mustang Mach-E did indeed have their emergency lights on before the accident. As such, the drivers in lane one of Hyde Park Avenue slow and ultimately come to a stop.
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Despite that, one driver of a Honda CR-V in lane one fails to stop in time and hits the Mustang Mach-E as it advances through the intersection. According to a source at Boston25, that Honda was carrying a mother and her child.
“We can confirm the mayor was a passenger in a vehicular crash earlier today. Thankfully no one sustained any major injuries. The Boston Police Department will conduct an investigation of the incident as they do with all crashes involving departmental motor vehicles,” the city said in a statement.
Addressing the public after the accident, Mayor Wu said she was returning from an event. “We were coming from Roslindale to an engagement at the Copley Library, which I didn’t end up making it to,” said Wu. “It was not an emergency yesterday to where we were headed. I was on my phone and not seeing what was really happening as the lights were turned on in that intersection” she added.
The police said that there’s a pending investigation into whether the driver broke any department policy. “I know my team and the officers who are on our detail team are of the utmost professionalism and training. I have full faith in the care and diligence with which they do their job of not just getting me around the city but any person, so all of that will be under review,” said Mayor Wu according to Boston25.
While we certainly can’t tell what the intent was between any of these drivers the incident looks like an honest mistake more than anything. Thankfully, it was at a fairly low speed and it seems as though everyone made it out ok.