After student killed on Ring Road, UMass Dartmouth makes safety improvements
DARTMOUTH - Less than a month after 19-year-old freshman Frankie Petillo, Jr., was killed in a car crash on Ring Road at UMass Dartmouth, the school said it has made safety improvements to the road.
In an email to the community, Vice Chancellor David Gingerella said that 10 portable speed bumps have been purchased to slow traffic on the road and will be installed soon. Other improvements include portable signs to display driving speeds and increased patrols.
The school is also promising that permanent speed tables will be put on all crosswalks by the Fall 2023 semester.
Petillo was a bioengineering student at UMass Dartmouth. He was hit and killed by a car driven by another UMass student in early April. His death quickly drew attention to the perceived lack of safety on Ring Road, the school's main thoroughfare, and Chancellor Mark Fuller announced several steps to make it safer, either right away or by the end of the academic year.