State crash data has repeatedly identified Cambridge as home to some of the highest concentrations of bicycle crashes in Massachusetts. A handful of streets and intersections account for a disproportionate share of them. If you were hit by a car on one of these corridors, you are far from alone, and the pattern itself can matter to your case.
Inman Square
Inman Square has been cited as one of the state’s most dangerous intersections for cyclists for years. Several streets converge there at irregular angles, which creates blind spots and unpredictable turning movements that a standard four-way intersection does not have. The city has been rebuilding Cambridge Street between Inman Square and Second Street with separated bike lanes, with that stretch targeted for completion alongside similar work on Main Street and Broadway by late 2026. Until that build-out is finished, the square remains one of the higher-risk crossings in the city.
The Massachusetts Avenue Corridor
Mass Ave carries an enormous volume of both cyclists and turning vehicles, and crash counts cluster at predictable points along it: the crossing with Cambridge Street near the Harvard Square T stop, the stretch between Trowbridge Street and Columbia Street, and the intersection with Albany Street near MIT. Buses, delivery vehicles, and cars making turns across the bike lane create repeated right hook and left cross situations, in exactly the pattern described in Massachusetts’s passing and turning statutes.
Hit by a car while biking? Get a free case review from a Cambridge injury attorney. Call 617-683-1983.
Cambridge Street, Hampshire Street, and Portland Street
This cluster of streets in and around Inman Square has one of the longest track records of bicycle crashes in the city, with over a hundred recorded incidents around Hampshire and Cambridge Streets alone going back more than a decade. The mix of parked cars, narrow travel lanes, and cross streets creates both dooring risk and right hook risk within the same few blocks.
What the City Is Doing About It
Cambridge adopted Vision Zero in 2016 and has since layered on a Complete Streets Policy and a Cycling Safety Ordinance, amended in 2020, that requires roughly 25 miles of physically separated bike lanes citywide. As of late 2025, about 17 of those miles were complete or under construction, with the full network now targeted for November 2026. The city’s own data shows the effort is warranted: bicyclists were hospitalized after crashes more than 250 times between 2019 and 2024. Separated lanes reduce sideswipes and close passes, but they do not eliminate the turning and door-opening conflicts that cause most of the serious crashes described above, which is why these particular streets keep showing up in the data even as infrastructure improves.
What a High-Risk Location Means for Your Claim
If you were hit at a location with a documented history of bicycle crashes, that history can undercut an insurer’s argument that you simply were not paying attention. It can also raise a separate question: whether the road design itself, a missing bike lane marking, or an obstructed signal contributed to the crash. Claims involving a city road or intersection defect fall under a different set of rules than a standard driver negligence claim, including a much shorter window to formally notify the city. If a Cambridge street or intersection played any role in your crash, it is worth talking to a lawyer quickly rather than waiting.
Whether you were hit at Inman Square, along Mass Ave, or somewhere else in the city, we can help you sort out who is responsible. Call 617-683-1983 for a free consultation.
