7 Students Injured In School Bus Crash: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, March 23. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Seven students were taken to the hospital with what were described as minor injuries after their school bus crashed with a tractor trailer.
• A water main broke in Framingham Tuesday afternoon, causing a serious traffic disruption along Route 135.
• Pedestrian deaths in Massachusetts have decreased in recent months amid a wider nationwide increase, according to experts.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

As speeding, distracted and impaired driving, and other dangerous driver behaviors spiked, nearly 3,000 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads during the first six months of the pandemic. The number represents a staggering 20 percent increase from the previous year when compared to the number of miles driven during the same time period, according to the GHSA's Spotlight on Highway Safety.

But Massachusetts was among those where pedestrian deaths actually decreased during that time period, according to the report. In 2019, Massachusetts recorded 32 pedestrian deaths. That number decreased to 17 during the first six months of 2020, a 47 percent decrease from the year before.

Only Hawaii, Maine and Wyoming recorded bigger percentage declines.

Read the full story.

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Tuesday's Other Top Stories

7 students injured in bus crash: A Shrewsbury school bus carrying ten children and a tractor-trailer crashed along Route 20 on Tuesday morning. Seven students who were on their way to Al-Hamra Academy, were taken to the hospital with what were described as minor injuries.

Framingham water main break: Traffic along Route 135 in downtown Framingham was being detoured on Tuesday afternoon due to a "substantial" water main break. Several properties were left without water service completely.

No parking (meters): Worcester on Tuesday began installing new parking kiosks in the neighborhood near the WooSox Polar Park stadium. The kiosks will allow drivers to pay by their license plate number, and are part of a larger planned parking overhaul downtown.

By The Numbers

863: The number of flowers staff at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital planted in front of the main entrance Monday. Each flower represents a coronavirus patient the hospital has treated since the start of the pandemic.

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