MMA accident spurs call for streetlights

BUZZARDS BAY — A Massachusetts Maritime Academy cadet was listed in good condition Monday at Rhode Island Hospital after being struck by a pickup truck Sunday night outside the campus gate, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Richard Aylward, 20, of Hanover was airlifted to Rhode Island Hospital with injuries listed as serious, but not life threatening. The MMA sophomore was riding on a skateboard at the time of the incident, officials said. The accident happened just after 9:25 p.m. outside the gate of the campus on Academy Drive, police said.

The driver of the pickup, Robert Joslin of Carver, was making a delivery for the Rice Bowl restaurant in Wareham, college spokesman Chris Ryan said.

Joslin was not charged or cited by police in the incident, police said. The accident remains under investigation.

The incident has shined the spotlight on the need for more streetlights on Academy Drive, Selectman Peter Meier said Monday.

Meier, a resident of the Academy Drive neighborhood, has requested that streetlights for the road leading to the college be added to the board's agenda tonight for discussion.

"It's my opinion that they are needed for public safety. Granted, it might be a knee-jerk reaction, but I want it on the agenda," Meier said. "Speaking with some of my neighbors, they've had near misses with cadets on skateboards and walking. They've had to swerve to go around them at the last minute."

Heading out to the selectmen's meeting last Tuesday, Meier said, he would have hit a cadet as he backed out of a driveway had it not been for a warning system installed in his car.

Town Administrator Thomas Guerino asked the town police department and department of public works to prepare a report on the necessity and feasibility of the streetlights by noon today for the selectmen to discuss tonight, Meier said. That meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Bourne Veterans' Memorial Community Center.

Currently, there are streetlights on every other pole, but they're not doing the job, Meier said. "They're not bright enough," he said.

Adm. Richard Gurnon, president of MMA, supports the idea of additional streetlights. "Especially in fall when cadets are wearing their black uniforms, it's a good idea," Gurnon said. Streetlights "would be a useful and safe addition," he said.