Blanchard Baisden of East Hartford was the fifth person to die in a motor vehicle crash in Hartford this year. Three passengers from his vehicle were transported to area hospitals, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries.
This happened around 12:30 on Sunday morning (25 April 2021) when Baisden drove a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder into a parked, unoccupied, semi-tractor trailer on Fraser Place.
These photos are of the shrine that has been set up by the crash site.
This roadway is overly wide, demonstrating how LOS (moving cars quickly) has been prioritized over safety.
For those unfamiliar, here (above) is a view of the road, facing the intersection with Garden Street, and (below) facing toward downtown.
The other traffic fatalities in Hartford this year have included:
- January 9, 2021 — Tower Avenue & Waverly — A driver (male, age 17) and a passenger (male, age 19) were killed when reckless driving — improper passing — ended with the car smashing into a tree.
- January 25, 2021 — Capen Street & Garden Street — A 26-year old male passenger was killed when the driver in his vehicle ran a stop sign while speeding and driving erratically. Another car collided with this one, and speeding vehicle came to rest against a utility pole.
- February 26, 2021 — 1098 Albany Avenue — A coward fled the scene after driving an SUV into Ms. Kedine Campbell, 32. This driver opted to leave the pedestrian to die.
- March 1, 2021 — 151 Farmington Avenue — This incident is one of the few that can be accurately called an “accident,” as the 65-year old driver reportedly experienced a medical event causing him to lose consciousness, which led to him losing control of the vehicle. It struck a fire hydrant on the Aetna campus, then veered off to strike a church sign across the street.