Palo Alto parents and bike advocates are calling for more traffic-safety measures after two children were hit by cars in separate collisions, including a crash on East Meadow Drive that left a middle-school student in critical condition.
The two accidents occurred on Sept. 8 and on Sept. 14, according to the Police Department. The first one took place at the intersection of Stanford Avenue and Escondido Road, a signalized intersection with a pedestrian signal. The incident occurred at 2:47 p.m., shortly after school got out.
The boy was reportedly riding a skateboard southbound on Escondido Road when he entered the intersection of Stanford Avenue. An Acura sedan operated by a woman in her 40s was traveling eastbound on Stanford and struck him at the Escondido intersection.
Police said the boy reportedly received minor visible injuries to his back and knees and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Drugs and alcohol were not a factor, police said, and no one was cited or arrested after the accident.
A more serious collision took place on Sept. 14, when a boy on a bicycle was riding westbound on East Meadow Drive at about 5:27 p.m. and making a left turn on South Court. According to the police, a Lexus SUV operated by a man in his 60s was traveling east on East Meadow and was passing another eastbound car, which was looking to turn left on South Court, on its right side.
Police said the SUV struck the bicyclist, a middle-school aged male, near the intersection. The boy repeatedly received major injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where he remained in critical condition as of Sept. 19, according to the police. The department's Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team is continuing to investigate this incident, he said.
The two incidents sparked renewed calls from parents for more traffic-safety measures, including crossing guards and additional traffic signals. Melissa and Joe Oliveira, whose son was hit near Escondido, submitted a letter to the council urging a special meeting involving the city, the Palo Alto Unified School District and Stanford University to address safety concerns.
"He is alive, which is truly a miracle," Melissa and Joe Oliveira wrote in the letter. "As you can imagine, this accident has shaken our family to its core and moreover, propelled us into action -- to create a safe environment for children to commute to/from school.
"This never should have happened in the first place; and the next child who gets hit, might not be as fortunate as our child."
Others joined the call for installing crossing guards at Escondido. Rachaell Mondino, who has children in kindergarten and second grade, said that due to the timing of Escondido's dismissal, many students and parents watched the accident and its aftermath. She requested that the city put crossing guards at Stanford's intersections with Escondido and Hanover at all times that children are likely to be present before and after school. She also requested that the city audit the crossing signals at the Stanford and Escondido intersection to "eliminate variable behavior."
"Thankfully, the child survived," Mondino said. "We cannot let this happen again to another child or family and change needs to happen."
Mayor Lydia Kou and Police Chief Andrew Binder alluded to the two collisions in a statement that they issued on Sept. 15. Kou and Binder noted that since the start of the school year, overtime traffic enforcement has been focused around schools and will remain so. The city is also working to "review traffic controls around schools, including deployment of our 30 crossing guards."
Kou and Binder said they are "greatly concerned" about the two traffic collisions which resulted in injuries to young people.
"Community safety is our number one priority. With schools back in session, we must all heighten our awareness and support the safety of our streets," the statement read.
City Manager Ed Shikada offered the same message at the Sept. 18 council meeting and noted that the city will discuss its traffic-control measures with the school district as well as with individual schools. This will include discussion of how crossing guards are deployed. The goal is to "ensure the environment is as safe as we can make it."
"The key message here is an acknowledgment that all of us have a responsibility for ensuring a safe environment for all community members in our public rights of way," Shikada said.
Comments
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 19, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Registered user
on Sep 19, 2023 at 5:26 pm
So sorry to hear these accidents and hope they both do well and recover.
No doubt there will be a lot said about both of these, but skateboards are hard to ride and riders can easily tumble or lose control. I am not sure about the rules of riding skateboards in a street, are they the same as bicycles?
Registered user
Fairmeadow
on Sep 19, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Registered user
on Sep 19, 2023 at 5:40 pm
I'm very sorry that this happened and hope that the boy in critical condition makes a full recovery.
East Meadow has no traffic lights between Alma and Waverley so people often speed down that section of road. The Bryant bicycle boulevard also has no light or other indicator where it intersects with East Meadow. This street has lots of cyclists, going to Fairmeadow, JLS, Mitchell Park, or riding home from Gunn. Please give it some attention, city council! People riding bikes to school and work benefit all of us so let's make it safe for them to do so.
Registered user
Charleston Meadows
on Sep 19, 2023 at 8:49 pm
Registered user
on Sep 19, 2023 at 8:49 pm
Our cities were not designed for cars and bikes like places such as Denmark. It remains a fantasy.
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Sep 19, 2023 at 10:16 pm
Registered user
on Sep 19, 2023 at 10:16 pm
We had a proposal for protected bike lanes along East Meadow Drive. Residents organized to kill it.
"The revision in the project followed an outpouring of opposition from residents concerned about parking loss. Dozens had submitted letters opposing the project or attended a July 14 Planning and Transportation Commission meeting on the plan to lobby against protected bike lanes east of Middlefield Road. Some argued that eliminating parking spaces near Ramos Park would force families and children to walk across the street to enter the park."
Web Link
I have half a mind to look up everyone who commented in opposition in that July 14 meeting and send them this article.
Edit: I just looked up the site. If we had protected bike lanes, the driver illegally trying to pass would have been physically unable to. It's a 2-lane street. He had to be driving in the bike lane on his side.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 19, 2023 at 11:45 pm
Registered user
on Sep 19, 2023 at 11:45 pm
I thought that the protected bike lane project wasn't built because the City Council and City Manager stalled so long that the City had to return the $1 million in funding it had received to build it? Here is the article on Palo Alto Online:
Web Link
Or was that a different bike lane project that the City dropped the ball on?
The truth is that City Council never takes into consideration the safety of children on bicycles in approving projects.
This was extremely true recently in the case of Castilleja's approved unprecented commercial expansion that includes -- outrageously! -- an underground garage with an entry on Bryant Bike Boulevard -- the only bike street that carries children to schools north of Oregon Expressway.
In fact, I attended an architectual review board meeting where Castilleja was discussed, where the ARB agreed that Castilleja's huge construction project was 100% certain to cause safety risks to children on bicycles on Bryant Street. Nontheless, the ARB approved it, as did City Council, without even paying lip service to the safety of young cyclists who will have to navigate huge construction vehicles prior to then having to navigate teenage students speeding in their Range Rovers and Teslas down Bryant and into the underground garage in order not to be late for school.
It's completely immoral and an abdication of responsibility to our community. These accidents ARE avoidable and given the lack of any demonstrated concern by our elected officials, we must keep the pressure on. IMHO!
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:36 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:36 am
Rebecca, if you read those two stories together I think it's pretty clear: In August 2021 (my link) they had a clear plan for protected bike lanes, but that got NIMBY'd because a lot of people love seeing empty curb spaces more than safe children.
But the grant money is still there, and the city wants to change direction somehow. But March 2022 (your link) comes around and they aren't in a position to spend the money fast enough anymore, so they have to give it back.
Maybe one could imagine some other project might have happened by March 2022 if city had been more nimble. But any such a project could not have violated our sacred parking, given the August outcome. Which means it could not have claimed the pavement space required to establish physical barriers that would have kept that driver from using a bike lane as a passing lane.
Registered user
Crescent Park
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:23 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:23 am
I wish these families best of luck getting more safety measures, but I wouldn't hold my breath. There are several dangerous intersections including Lincoln and Middle field, where my child was struck by a speeding SUV. This was two years ago. Multiple crashes on that intersection, yet nothing has changed.
Registered user
Green Acres
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:47 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:47 am
I am so sorry to hear of these accidents and send my wishes for healing to the kids and parents!
@R and S: Yes, from what I can see, the City is often not thinking about the local goal(s), but rather virtue signaling or trying to build the latest theoretical fad in traffic engineering circles. The Ross Road fiasco comes to mind, as does the "narrow the road to scare drivers into slowing down" ethos of the new Charleston/Arastradero work.
On completed sections of the latter, there are curb scuff marks, knocked-down road signs, and even concrete spalling from all the drivers constantly running into the curbs and islands.
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 20, 2023 at 7:21 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 7:21 am
@Mondoman, I would say that narrowing the road on Arastradero has been a huge success. And tire marks on a curb are not inherently problematic. It's better to get that feedback from the concrete than to hit a pedestrian. Let's move the curb on other streets: Web Link
Registered user
Evergreen Park
on Sep 20, 2023 at 8:27 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 8:27 am
Please note that Lydia Kou made sure there was a provision in the cities general plan, a plan in place for ten years, the prohibits barricading any streets. This was in response to the anger at installation of traffic calming infrastructure on Ross Rd, even though that didn’t involve closing any street to car traffic with a barricade. Residents have conniptions when traffic safety infrastructure is proposed, but then you all flip out when a kid gets hit by a car. You have to chose.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Sep 20, 2023 at 9:23 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 9:23 am
Deborah in evergreen park wrote:
“ Please note that Lydia Kou made sure there was a provision in the cities general plan, a plan in place for ten years, the prohibits barricading any streets.”
This is not true there is no such provision in our Comprehensive plan (Deborah calls it the General Plan) and therefore not suggested byLydia Kou.
This is simply not true!!!
Please do not spread misinformation !!!
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:12 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:12 am
THE FACTS: The updated Transportation Element of the City of Palo Alto's Comprehensive Plan contains Policy T-4.1 "Keep all neighborhood streets open as a general rule." This policy was supported by several key decision-makers, including Lydia Kou. Nothing gets done with one vote in a democracy, but it's true that she was a leader on this.
Had T-4.1 been in place when Ellen Fletcher and others were advocating for the Bryant Bicycle Boulevard, that visionary project would never have seen the light of day. (Former Planning Director Gitelman did not seem to understand why T-4.1 was a really bad idea and did not give good guidance to decision-makers on it). This policy, which prohibits street closures like those that made Bryant BB possible, is the REASON the Ross Road Bicycle Boulevard project had to take a completely different engineering approach than originally envisioned in the 2012 Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation Plan.
Further, in outreach meetings, the majority of Ross Road neighbors refused to give up street parking for bike lanes (which might have been a good alternative), so the city tried to engineer around this ill-founded policy. Policy T-4.1 is the REASON the city staff cannot create more bike boulevards like Bryant, using street closures. Bryant is a model, the first of its kind, that gets held up to cities across the nation as one that WORKS. Policy T-4.1 needs to be eliminated from the Comprehensive Plan so that we can create more bicycle boulevards like Bryant. It was (literally) a grave mistake to add Policy T-4.1. If you don't like Ross Road, and you want to see safer streets for people, especially kids, write today to city.council@cityofpaloalto.org and ask them to direct staff to take steps quickly to eliminate this policy. We need street systems that are designed to keep people of all ages and abilities who use them safe. Humans, including drivers, are vulnerable. V*M=F Share the road legally, considerately, and attentively.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:22 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:22 am
"Please note that Lydia Kou made sure there was a provision in the cities general plan, a plan in place for ten years, the prohibits barricading any streets."
What is a General Plan?? Also, the Ross Road brouhaha predates Kou's term as mayor by many years. She became mayor in 2023 while the Ross Rd issue and the petition date back to 2018!
Outrage at the city's outreach failures and absurd traffic calming decisions go back DECADES to 2 traffic czars Jaime Rodriquez and Josh Mello. Much has been written about their failures to engage with the community, something Mayor Kou excels at -- which is why residents turn to her when they need help navigating city bureaucracy!
Deborah, perhaps you can explain why you're focusing on Kou rather than the entrenched bureaucracy that stick us with bollards that create gridlock, unnecessary roundabouts, confusing forced merges (Middlefield) and odd jut-outs and dangerous "lawn furniture" (E Charleston)???
When we were upset about school traffic safety issues and the unnecessary placement of yet another sign, Ms Kou got my neighbors and me to the right transportation cza> He came out and walked the block with us and decided that we really, truly didn't need a 4th sign in a SINGLE block warning people there was a school on the next block!
Registered user
Mayfield
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:22 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:22 am
We need to SLOW DOWN traffic throughout the city. People speed and roll through stop signs all the time yet I never see our police issuing tickets. Why not? And how about getting electronic monitors that automatically ticket lawbreakers. They get charged a fine and sometimes their insurance rates go up — a good deterrence to lawbreakers. Last, Ross Rd is much safer with its roundabouts and narrow spots.
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:27 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:27 am
Excess speed is a real problem that makes any collision situation more dangerous. We need more speed enforcement on these main streets.
Registered user
Barron Park
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:36 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:36 am
Being a biker in my 80s I would like to add that kids themselves also need training in safe riding, I have been dealing with kids passing each other or me when there really was no safe space for passing, or riding in groups of 3 side-by-side. Please consider that before accusing the car drivers.
Registered user
Community Center
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:45 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:45 am
I do think there needs to be:
(1) more visible stop signs. For example, at the intersection of Lincoln and Middlefield, a stop sign in the middle of the road on Lincoln road would help. I have watched drivers stop back far and then zoom onto Middlefield road. I just think some people may not fully realize there is a stop that is required - and that a rolling stop does not count.
(2) cameras at the strategic intersections and tickets mailed to those not following the traffic rules. This is done in NYC.
(3) more speed bumps - I dislike these but they do work.
(4) tickets given for people texting on the phone while driving
Yes, the bikers need to be more attentive. Perhaps they get tickets as well for not stopping at traffic lights and stop signs. But I do feel that we (at least I speak for myself) have been trusted that we follow the rules and bend those rules when it suits us. More traffic enforcement can help to reduce the accidents.
Cecilia
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:45 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:45 am
The more obstacles you put around town the more road rage and people dangerously creating their own lanes to avoid oncoming traffic.
I still don't get the gratuitous fact-free attack on Kou who's responsive and aware vs other mayors like Liz Kniss who famously denied Palo Alto had any traffic problems and for people to just take alternate routes. The outrage was such that a special City Council meeting had to be called.
Another example: the bollards near Greene Middle School create gridlock when cars try to turn at the light, leaving traffic backed up into the middle of Oregon Expressway with 6 lanes of traffic zooming toward stuck cars.
The traffic czars ignored ALL complaints and former Mayor Fine blamed the county for the problems the CITY created when he FINALLY responded. Greg Tanaka said he always wondered about the backups when dropping off/picking up his child at school and also did nothing.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 20, 2023 at 11:28 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 11:28 am
Fact check: Mayor Kou started her City Council service in 2017. She also served on the Comp Plan Update advisory committee. I don't remember the actual name of that committee.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 20, 2023 at 11:36 am
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 11:36 am
Fact check: PAPD does issue tickets to bicyclists, including students, for illegal road behavior on the road.
Fact check: The Charleston-Arastradero Plan reduced bike-pedestrian collisions by more than 50% on a route that serves eleven public and private schools. I have no trouble navigating it as a driver. However, I drive at the posted speed limit which makes that easy. If you are speeding, I can see how that might be difficult. I like the project. The project also reduced auto collisions. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was significant.
Registered user
South of Midtown
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:05 pm
The problem is drivers who are in a hurry and are willing to break laws and endanger other people to save themselves a few seconds. You can't engineer a solution for that. The problem is cultural and goes beyond what City Hall can fix. We need to change our attitudes and our laws regarding traffic liabilities and responsibilities.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Both cases are stunning and a major wake up call for the School District, City of Palo Alto and Stanford. Hoping the young fellow will pull through who was severely injured. The boy in my neighborhood is shaken but resilient. He endured a hellish experience.
Why is it that Escondido School does not have crossing guards? Apparently the Police Department controls the hiring of crossing guards. So the city needs to step up with the city council and direct the police chief to act NOW and hire crossing guards.
The College Terrace Residents’ Association brought up safety and the lack of crosswalks on Stanford Avenue at our last two meetings — the last being August 31st.
Why do kindergartners enter the school on Stanford Avenue??!!! The original entrance was always on Escondido. Time to support safety for children and have them enter and leave from Escondido.
Why are the double lights not synchronized? Only in the AM which confuses children.
Many are saddened and shocked at the indifference to children’s well being when the school district, city of Palo Alto and Stanford ignored calls to mitigate traffic issues at and near the school.
There are only crosswalks at Bowdoin, Hanover and Yale streets. Phil Kamai of the PA Transportation department will need to work with parents and residents to ensure solutions are designed to keep children safe.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Of course it's terrible when anyone on a bike or any pedestrian is hit by a car and I agree with most of the ideas to increase the safety of cyclists. I am both an avid cyclist and a car driver. As a driver I pretty much assume that cyclists will do something dumb, especially if the cyclist is a kid or teenager. As a cyclist I assume the drivers won't see me. I agree with many of the comments above about ways to increase safety but aside from crossings by a school there cannot be crossing guards or police at every intersection. I live in Old Palo Alto between Waverley and Bryant and so see a good deal of students riding bicycles. Overall they are oblivious to any danger (not surprising) but a few things stand out. While Bryant is a bike boulevard, there are still cars on it and I have seen students enter Bryant without so much as looking to see if a car is coming. I've seen near misses as cyclists pull out when it was clearly dangerous to do so. I saw a kid exit his own driveway without looking to see if a car was coming and there was one. If these kids were hit it would be their own fault. Once I was broadsided in my car by a high school age girl as I was in the middle of an intersection on Waverley. She hit by rear fender because she was texting as she drove through the intersection where she, not I, had a stop sign. I didn't even see her until I heard a thud as she was well behind my field of vision. I've seen kids, clearly too young to have a drivers license, on e-bikes going as fast as a car could go. So parents too have a responsibility to teach their children what is safe. Kids should not be allowed to drive what amounts to a small motor scooter. Teenagers will be teen agers, but safety on bicycles is clearly a two way street and without efforts on both sides, accidents will continue to happen.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:52 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:52 pm
Seems to me the student population is way down from 15-20 years ago. It should be easier for vehicles, pedestrians, bikes to navigate with each other now!
Meanwhile: drivers who aren’t from this city are here in greater numbers, especially since the pandemic started. I see people fiddling with navi on their phones attached to their dashboards, often speeding. Sometimes are stopped too long, inattentive, also. They obviously don’t care which streets they’re on, whether kids are about, etc.
I don’t mean to finger out of area app-focused (delivery, etc.) drivers completely, but I believe this is part of the current problem.
Also, as someone very used to Embarcadero (who is not near Bryant), it is threatening to drive Churchill and have to inch, inch, inch forward with poor visibility where it crosses the “bike boulevard.” It’s really difficult to see if a bike (who has right of way) will come speeding through that intersection. I drive a normal-sized car, not a large raised up luxury SUV which should, I suppose, have a better view. I otherwise avoid any contact with Bryant, believe me, but need to go on Churchill sometimes.
- So it would help for the city to check if all intersections have good visibility. Trim bushes, place signs, have good lighting, prevent vehicles parking and therefore blocking on corners.
Registered user
Green Acres
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Maybe I'm missing some secret rule, but I don't see how "Keep all neighborhood streets open as a general rule" *prohibits* anything. Rather, it sounds quite sensible.
The many comments above that suggest more and better traffic enforcement are right - we need to change behavior, not just engineering.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 20, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Just a few obvious points.
Before the pandemic there were shuttles around town that some students at middle and high schools could use to get to and from school. These shuttles no longer exist and it probably means more parents are driving their kids to school.
All our school sites were planned with much smaller student bodies than they have now. At some stage while the schools were still small compared to now, a decision was made to no longer utilize school buses in Palo Alto. Perhaps it is time to revisit that decision.
A decade or so ago, our school start times were staggered so that high schools started earliest, then middle schools, then elementary schools. This staggered the commute times and helped to keep the overall traffic volume near schools lower than at present. Then it was decided that high schools should start later to allow teens to get more sleep. This in fact caused a bigger problem on how to get all schoolchildren to school in a much narrower window. This means more traffic on the road.
Most school websites had a page with hints on how best to get children to school. Is this still the case?
Lastly, there is the chicken and egg problem. Parents think it is too dangerous for children to go to school by themselves because of the traffic, so they drive their kids to school, causing the traffic to be worse. It is a vicious circle.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Sep 20, 2023 at 2:41 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 2:41 pm
I think all lanes for any age of biker should be protected. Having said that I have had my fair share of avoiding accidents with bikes whose bikers seemed totally oblivious to the rules of traffic and
wise biking, flying through red lights, not using bike lanes (both bike and driver must be within the lanes, not just the bike) etc, with reckless abandon.
I do not know the circumstances of the accidents and of course, it's very possible that the car driver is at fault, I just don't know, but my experience with bikers is "get away from them and pray they don't decide suddenly to cross in front of you".
Protected lanes would indeed protect both the clueless/reckless and car drivers. But intersections, which remain dangerous by design (even in Denmark) are another story. Parents must teach their children what is and what is not permissible and wise when riding and I wonder if they do.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 20, 2023 at 3:56 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 3:56 pm
The only proven, 100% effective way to reduce car collisions with bikers, pedestrians and other cars is to REDUCE the number of cars on the road.
The most proven ways to reduce cars on the road include:
1. Provide convenient, affordable, reliable, clean public transportation <-- this is number 1 by a wide margin.
2. Bike/pedestrian infrastructure like bike/pedestrian bridges, protected & separated bike/ped lanes, and grade separations.
3. More housing near jobs to reduce the necessity for commuter traffic on the street (this is how housing can REDUCE traffic while commercial offices always INCREASE traffic).
4. Put a prohibition on the development of additional office space. <-- this is something I thought we had -- or at very least, a limit. If we have a limit, we blow well past it every year, and exceptions are constantly being made for billionaires: e.g. Sobrato in North Ventura, Castilleja in Old Palo Alto (yes, a private school is a business, and it has approximately 100 employees (or more) according to its website, which will increase with the expansion of the size of the campus and student body, given the need for more teachers and staff for the new students.) We must stop making these exceptions! It makes no sense that there is still a fast-track program for office permits (being used all over town, e.g. 250 Sherman, which is zoned for mixed residential/commercial, and a building that will accommodate 600 employees is going up there!). Fast tracking should be only for housing, ideally housing that goes towards our RHNA requirements.
5. Work-from-home -- although the city has taken no action to limit the number of employees that local businesses can accommodate in Palo Alto offices; and I highly doubt they will even try.
We don't need to throw up our hands at call these incidents unavoidable. We absolute can make quality of life improvements that make streets safe for bike commuters and pedestrians of all ages, from young children to seniors.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 20, 2023 at 4:18 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 4:18 pm
Just 2 hours ago I was heading North on Bryant. I stopped at the stop sign at Bryant and California Avenue. Two bicyclists (from Green School I assume) biked (fast) right through the stop sign on California Avenue without even looking. One of the boys actually had his head turned away from me! Never even bothered to look in my direction. Before we spend lots of money on barriers on the roads, etc, we need to have someone explain to the kids how vulnerable they are. They need safety programs every month or so!! Kids go back to their old ways very quickly.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Sep 20, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Sorry to hear this. And after there was public comment at CC about this very troubling concern on E. Meadow at Ross.
Q: Where and when is yellow reflector tape street lights getting the full wrap? So far 3 at Bryant and Oregon only. Is this a cal trans things? Priority !! This taping is most calming and alerts driver and cyclist. What is the deal here? Every other city is doing it. What is the hold up?
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:08 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 6:08 pm
Based on the information that's been released, here's what could have happened in the East Meadow incident. The eastbound car stopped and waiting to turn left might have blocked the westbound bicyclist's view of the oncoming Lexus about to pass the stopped car. It might also have blocked the Lexus driver's view of the bicyclist.
This situation is a known cause of collisions. We don't know enough yet to determine who, if anyone, was at fault, or what the appropriate countermeasure might be, but it is not readily addressed by infrastructure.
Registered user
Evergreen Park
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Registered user
on Sep 20, 2023 at 10:13 pm
"Online Name - Embarcadero/Leland Oaks" - When you start posting under your own name, I will take your comments seriously and will reply to them.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:10 am
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:10 am
First, prayers and loving wishes to families with hurting children from these accidents.
Second, that area at E. Meadow is perennially problematic, confusing, with turns very close to the school driveway, and kids regularly doing crazy things on bikes in part because it’s a bad setup and because they’re kids/acting as if it’s a neighborhood street not a de facto major artery. Regardless of who is at fault, there needs to be safety improvement so bikes can go and cars can go, not at the same time. We can do that without forgetting that main arteries are also important not to block off for emergency vehicle access to the school or egress in other kinds of emergencies. People who want to block everything off should remember how egress would have saved many lives in other recent tragedies.
Third, many “safety” improvements have not made things safer everywhere. Roundabouts have to be very carefully done or they increase danger for bikes like at Ross Rd. Complaints are often after witnessing near miss after near miss as a result of “improvements”, which the City ignores. Dismissing everyone as “NIMBY” does not help our kids and is a meaningless application of the term anyway.
Also, we have competing laws allowing more density on underparked properties where it’s delusional to expect people not to need or have cars and where street parking is the only option. It’s not frivolous to someone with mobility problems to take away their ability to park on a street by their house, or so they don’t have to back up into traffic on a main road which is more dangerous.
(You want to improve biking here? Put your money where your mouth is and get the train undergrounded so we instantly have a separate bike boulevard from one end of town to the other.)
Rebecca E: Hong Kong has the best transit in the world, but people can’t live near their jobs—that’s a pipe dream—and commute times are as bad as LA. With all the density, almost no one walks or bikes anymore.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 21, 2023 at 5:21 am
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 5:21 am
What we do need are bicycle traffic lights that are separate from other vehicle lights. They have them on San Antonio in Los Altos.
Let's give bikes their own lights, both red and green, at places where bike routes cross busy streets. If there is a designated green light for bikes, they will know when it is their turn to cross safely and when it is red the other vehicles can have their turn to pass safely.
Registered user
Community Center
on Sep 21, 2023 at 6:35 am
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 6:35 am
Hope the kid in critical condition makes a full recovery. It continues to baffle me that in the absence of school buses, there are no viable public transport/shuttle options for middle and high school kids other than biking or being driven to school. Not everyone lives within walking distance and kids may not be able to bike because of after-school commitments. Added to that it's ridiculous that not all intersections on Bryant, Cowper, Waverley, and adjoining streets there have four-way stops increasing the potential for collision. Alma is a race track between Meadow and Churchill.
Registered user
University South
on Sep 21, 2023 at 6:55 am
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 6:55 am
I see several comments talking about the responsibility of young bikers near schools. What about the responsibility of drivers near schools?
If E. Meadow Dr. has one automobile laying in each direction, the driver passing the stopped car had to use the bike/parking lane to pass. If he did that so fast and recklessly that a kid is now in critical condition, why was he not cited?
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 21, 2023 at 10:20 am
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 10:20 am
Neil Shea. Yes. Both are important.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Sep 21, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 12:11 pm
I agree that passing on East Meadow is dangerous and reckless. I have seen cars pass a car — mine on California Avenue twice. I was going the speed limit. These drivers were in a hurry and violated state law. We have cyclists in the bike lane who could have been injured. Drivers have to STOP acting like they are in their own movie.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:01 pm
My heart aches for this boy and his family. I'm sure the driver is suffering a different kind of pain.
Collisions like this are usually avoidable. Please share the road legally and safely. Know and follow the law. Be attentive. Be careful. Speaking as a driver, we know our two-ton vehicles can kill, so driving is an awesome responsibility. As drivers, we are responsible for safe operation of our vehicles. Please slow down, think, give yourself reaction time, so you will not harm someone. Avoid having to live with the knowledge that your carelessness maimed or killed someone.
Please take a minute and really absorb that and think about how you drive. Crashes like this are life changing for everyone involved. Every road user plays a role in preventing them by sharing the road safely, legally and considerately. Model the responsible behavior YOU want to see on our streets.
Fellow PAUSD parents, your kids are getting traffic safety education in our public schools. Information comes home to you from these programs. Read about the skills your child has learned. Go for walks and bike rides with your child to practice these skills regularly until they become habits. Children learn through supervised practice. This is good practice for life and lays a good foundation for a young person to later become a safe driver.
If you missed the information on this program, (or if your child goes to a private school that may not teach this information) the City of Palo Alto offers some terrific, developmentally appropriate traffic safety resources here. Web Link
I hope this helps. Let's do less blaming and, instead, consider, "What can I do better to make our roads safer for everyone? Change starts with me."
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:21 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:21 pm
to Mondoman--By preventing street closures, Policy T-4.1 eliminated the possibility of the kinds of closure treatments that enabled the Bryant Bike Boulevard. If you ride Bryant on a bike, you will see that the road is closed to auto traffic at several locations. This reduced Bryant's use as a "fast" cross-town auto route and enabled a calmer street environment that is more inviting and safe for foot-powered traffic. This kind of treatment cannot be done under policy T-4.1. We are still waiting for safety improvements to southern-most portions of Bryant. We may be waiting forever, thanks to this policy.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm
"The only proven, 100% effective way to reduce car collisions with bikers, pedestrians and other cars is to REDUCE the number of cars on the road."
And how is that supposed to happen when the Bay Area is mandated to get 1,000,000 more households with probably 1,500,000 more cars?
Registered user
College Terrace
on Sep 21, 2023 at 5:34 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 5:34 pm
Why is there a stall on yellow reflective taping of traffic signals? Effective traffic calming — no one appears to have a clue of why only three at Bryant & Oregon.
Registered user
Green Acres
on Sep 21, 2023 at 11:36 pm
Registered user
on Sep 21, 2023 at 11:36 pm
@Consider
Re: "By preventing street closures, Policy T-4.1 ..."
What is the wording in T-4.1 that "prevents street closures"?
"As a general rule" deprecates street closures, but certainly doesn't prevent them. A bicycle boulevard would be a strong candidate for such, an exception to the general rule.
I think we have to look to public sentiment for this, not try to twist an innocuous phrase past its breaking point.
Registered user
South of Midtown
on Sep 22, 2023 at 8:20 am
Registered user
on Sep 22, 2023 at 8:20 am
Public sentiment or not, the policy affects staff decisions. The Ross Road pinch points were chosen as a traffic calming measure because staff didn't think that the City Council would approve a plan with a street closure. Public sentiment was overwhelmingly against them after it was built, but by then it was too late.
Registered user
Green Acres
on Sep 22, 2023 at 9:30 am
Registered user
on Sep 22, 2023 at 9:30 am
@Donald
Public sentiment is the basis of our democracy. If neither pinch points nor lots of road closures pass public muster, we should try alternatives. One proven such alternative is of course enhanced traffic enforcement, and it has the great benefit of dealing with all behavior, not just a subset of driver behavior.
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 22, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Registered user
on Sep 22, 2023 at 4:04 pm
I rode my bicycle to JLS in the 90s and there were no safety issues. It's not the way the roads are designed that's the issue. It's driver behavior and distractions. I suspect narrowing the road and artificial congestion created by city planners with too much paint and signs is distracting to the driver. They try too hard to serve bicyclists, they've been doing it for years, I don't know that it's statistically reduced any accidents (they just unrealistically try to make more people ride bikes, even though most drivers need to get on the freeway) and we'd all have better results if they'd leave well the roads enough alone. Less paint/barriers/restrictions/signs = better visibility
Registered user
Palo Verde
on Sep 23, 2023 at 2:36 pm
Registered user
on Sep 23, 2023 at 2:36 pm
The problem with hiring more police to solve a problem in a city with a department like Palo Alto's is you wind up paying twice. First, for the additional police. Then later, for the abuse lawsuits.
Web Link
Web Link
Web Link
That's a LOT for a city of our size, and there's at least one other, but I think I'm limited to three links here.
Registered user
Crescent Park
on Sep 23, 2023 at 3:11 pm
Registered user
on Sep 23, 2023 at 3:11 pm
Yes, police actually enforcing traffic laws is a big part (though not all) of this problem.
Police feel traffic enforcement is "beneath" them. I used to see large groups of on-duty police (3-6 cars) pooled at the top of the Alma/High or Webster/Cowper garages shooting the breeze. As if there was nothing to do for them in between "serious" calls. We don't need more police, just to get to work!
Registered user
Green Acres
on Sep 23, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Registered user
on Sep 23, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Setting up a "traffic police" unit with more limited powers should solve both potential issues above, and probably be faster and cheaper than using standard police.
Registered user
Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Sep 24, 2023 at 6:24 pm
Registered user
on Sep 24, 2023 at 6:24 pm
The Bicycle Lane Bollards on North California Avenue in front of Green Middle School provide increased bicycle safety. Where elso could bicycle lane bollards provide safer bicycle travel?
Registered user
Community Center
on Sep 25, 2023 at 7:16 am
Registered user
on Sep 25, 2023 at 7:16 am
Talking of distracted drivers and not saying this was the reason for the above accidents but this is an all too common driver behavior everywhere that increases the risks to everyone. I was walking my dog past the driveway of the International School of the Peninsula campus on Cowper last week. Some idiot who had dropped his kid off was rolling into the street past the stop sign all the while looking at his phone. He did not see me and he nearly hit me. Had I not banged on the hood of his car I would have been hurt. Drivers get off your damned phones when you are behind the wheel.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 25, 2023 at 11:00 am
Registered user
on Sep 25, 2023 at 11:00 am
I think we need to look at the larger problem. We have a problem with both bike and cars. Neither are obeying the laws.There are bike lanes painted on the road, but bike notoriously ride outside the lane. It's a state law that mandates bike use and stay in their lane. There is a bike lane on both sides of CA Ave. The bike lanes take up so much of the road the there is no medium strip. Everyday I see children riding outside the lanes.
When getting to the CA underpass, I see riders leaving the bike lanes and using the sidewalk to enter the tunnel. The last part of the bike lane is rarely used. There have been at least two accidents on the sidewalk when two bikes collided and an ambulance was called. There are signs posted at the underpass that asks bike riders to dismount. The barriers in the tunnel are so far apart the they are useless. Bikes like to go down picking up speed so they are able to get up the hill. There are motorized bikes, skateboards, and scooter doing the same. I went to a meeting at Green and noticed a safe routes on the wall. On that, they have stop signs clearly shown on the routes. Rarely have I ever seen a bike stop at a stop sign.
Drivers of cars are a problem as well. They speed when children are around. I've seen drivers cut off children riding their bikes of Bryant. There are numerous places where cars speed that don't have children around.
That brings me to the pedestrian. Why is there no enforcement of the laws already on the books? Why are bikes allowed to ride on sidewalks when there is a bike lane? Why are bike riders not getting off their bike when a sign clearly states to dismount when pedestrians are present. When a person enters a crosswalk and there is a stop sign, why does a bike not stop? It's dangerous walking! All we're asking for is both bikes and cars to obey existing laws. We either need to enforce our laws or stop making the problem worse by adding more bike routes in the city.
PLEASE start thinking about pedestrians!
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 25, 2023 at 11:57 am
Registered user
on Sep 25, 2023 at 11:57 am
FACT CHECK: Enforcement everywhere is not feasible. The cost would be astronomical. Please read your city's police budget. A society has to depend, to some extent, on the majority of citizens obeying the law. It appears the driver in this case did not. These incidents are life-changing for everyone involved.
Further, my observation is that enforcement works when it is applied properly. Generally speaking, bad actors behave better while officers are visible and present and miscreants go back to their bad behavior when the officers leave. It's a temporary fix, and we can never afford enough officers to have them everywhere at every moment.
Are you suggesting that having a police officer or crossing guard at East Meadow and South Court (and all intersections like it) at all times is feasible? You do not understand what enforcement costs. Given the severity of the student's injuries, I'm wondering if the driver was also speeding. This is a posted school zone.
Drivers, people of all ages are on foot and bikes all day long and after dark for recreation and transportation. Kids go to after-school activities. Slow down to give yourself reaction time, especially on school routes. Obey the law. Put down your cell phones and drive attentively. All road users, share the road legally and safely to avoid tragedies like this. This driver's life will be changed. This child and his family will be changed because of one person's careless, illegal choice.
We all need to be careful on the road. We all need to teach and regularly practice road safety skills with our children as soon as they are old enough to take walks with us. We need to constantly reinforce safety skills until they become habits. These are ESSENTIAL life skills that will keep our growing children safer all of their lives. The pleasure and learning of regular walks and bike rides together is a gift to your family.
Registered user
Charleston Meadows
on Sep 25, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Registered user
on Sep 25, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Best wishes for a full recovery for the student hit by the car.
Hardly anyone (motorists or bicyclists) obeys the law anymore. Cars barely slow down when going through stop signs. Bike riders (students) assemble in packs and swoop through intersections without paying attention. I’ve been caught in the middle of such bike assault, and it was scary! (Yes, I know kids’ brains aren’t fully developed, but maybe lots of those kids should not be trusted with bikes.) Changes in road infrastructure may be needed, but so is strict enforcement of current laws. Where are the cops ticketing both drivers and bicyclists?
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 26, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Registered user
on Sep 26, 2023 at 1:12 pm
As a person who bikes and walks a lot, I can say that some people (it does seem like more) developed bad habits during the pandemic. However I see many more who do share the road safely. Most people (including most kids) do the right thing. We ALL need to do our best to share the road legally and safely. That is what decent people and good citizens do.
During the pandemic, kids weren't going to school--so their bike/pedestrian safety education programs were recreated for online learning (through heroic efforts by the city's Safe Routes to School staff, I might add). These programs are much more effective when taught in-person. A push is underway to catch these kids up, but it will take some time and effort to get back where we were.
If each of us does our part, our community will be a safer happier place for everyone. It is just not that hard to behave legally, considerately and safely. Really, is it worth it to shave a second or two off your commute by putting oneself and others at risk?
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 26, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Registered user
on Sep 26, 2023 at 1:15 pm
Go fund me for boy hit while riding his bike.
This is a member of our community- please consider contributing
Read more here Web Link
Registered user
another community
on Sep 26, 2023 at 5:48 pm
Registered user
on Sep 26, 2023 at 5:48 pm
Please slow down and pay attention motorists. You can't expect children to always do the same. If you are in or near a school zone when children are present, exercise requisite caution. You will get to your destination. Better a few minutes late as opposed to injuring a student.
No appointment or delivery is worth a life damaged or lost.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 26, 2023 at 6:41 pm
Registered user
on Sep 26, 2023 at 6:41 pm
As I see people blaming the driver as someone in a hurry to get somewhere, does it cross anyone's mind that the people outside a school are likely to be parents or staff members. Most drivers try to avoid schools at busy times and don't choose to go that way when they know they will be delayed by a school commute.
There is a likelihood that the place someone needs to get in a hurry is their child to school. Tardy to school necessitates at the least a trip to the office and if a repeated behavior then it can mean more serious action.
I think it is time that we started looking at school commutes. Does JLS and Fairmeadow starting bell too close? Do the schools need to be a little more lenient about tardy behavior for 1st period?
Our school campuses were not designed for the size of the student bodies we now have. Our schools may have classroom space, but our roads do not have the space for that many children needing to arrive at school at the same window.
I don't think we should always jump the conclusion that accidents are the result of someone unfamiliar with the fact that school is about to start. I think it is quite possible that we have to start looking once again at the way our kids get to school since our schools are now so large and perhaps ask whether school buses should be reintroduced.
Registered user
another community
on Sep 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
Registered user
on Sep 27, 2023 at 8:28 am
Not blaming anyone, but I worked at Greene for 27 years, commuted from San Mateo to Palo Alto on my bicycle often, and saw all sorts of bad actors. Just ask the crossing guards. Could be parents, staff, commuters, students, contractors working on local homes, gig drivers, motorcycles, skateboarders, scooter riders, and even stray animals. The fact is that a car outweighs a cyclist or pedestrian exponentially, so the onus is on the motorist to exercise the most vigilance since they have the potential to do the most damage.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 27, 2023 at 8:59 am
Registered user
on Sep 27, 2023 at 8:59 am
Additionally, to the summing up of my last comment (if that is allowed), Castilleja has shuttles and other traffic reducing solutions, shouldn't our schools be more proactive? Just because they are public, doesn't mean that innovations can't be introduced to get students to school. Expecting them all to walk or bike as an alternative to being driven is obviously not working.
Registered user
Palo Alto High School
on Sep 27, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Registered user
on Sep 27, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Biking is not safe in Palo Alto yet the city pretends it is. In the '80s, there wasn't even a traffic signal on Embarcadero Rd. between T&C and Paly, there simply weren't enough cars.
As a parent of PAUSD for 2 decades, on PTA boards and volunteering in schools, I have heard and seen a lot.
This type of tragedy occurs every few years as a result of too many commuters and drivers in a hurry. A Greene student was hit on his bike in '17: brain & lifelong disabilities. A Greene student was killed by a truck while on his bike in '20. A Hays student was hit on his bike and has lasting injuries, '19. A Duveneck boy was hit while in the crosswalk on Embarcadero Rd/Louis. Out-of-town drivers frequently drive through the crosswalk on a red light between T&C and Paly; someone was hit in the crosswalk in '17. On Churchill Ave. in '14, a girl was hit. Most of these mentioned were in the news but plenty of bike accidents are unreported because they are less tragic.
The city requests that cars don't drive on Bryant St. & Castilleja Ave. if possible because they are official bike routes. The city created bike maps for suggested routes but they are not guaranteed to be safe. A student was hit on his bike riding on Melville Ave., a route suggested by the city map. Anytime someone is hit by a car, the car wins.
FYI to drivers: Cars are not supposed to drive up to the corner to turn right at a traffic signal. The driver is supposed to pull into the bike lane when the green line breaks, which gives bikers fair warning of an impending turn.
Buses? The city discontinued the Embarcadero Rd. bus which transported many Paly students. PAUSD had a school bus funded by parents of West Stanford and Los Altos Hills which stopped at Nixon, Fletcher, & Gunn but it was discontinued last year due to lack of bus drivers: Web Link But somehow PAUSD has bus drivers for the VTA and disabled students. In my opinion, anyone will take a job if the pay is right.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Sep 28, 2023 at 6:44 pm
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2023 at 6:44 pm
All I see is a tentative to blame motorized people, car drivers for example, but no analysis of an accident. It is a fact that some number of accidents are caused by bikes, either going through red lights, inattentive actions or the simplest premise that they are entitled to bike as they see fit regardless of circumstances, the danger, the road markings or the law. Bikers sometimes seem to assume that we ought to divine where they want to go even if they are not visible. Car drivers have a fair share of responsibility in accidents but no matter how careful I am I do not possess a 360º degree vision or the ability to turn my neck 180º and be able to see a fast approaching bike riding on the sidewalk.
There seems to be a generalized entitlement, namely that bikers do not need to abide by the law and do not need to be instructed on the fine points of their traffic management ride. Parents should be proactive in teaching their children at least in the management of their own visibility on the road if nothing else. That kind of loose attitude towards one's responsibilities only leads to disaster. Sometimes the car driver is at fault and sometimes is the bike rider.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 28, 2023 at 8:29 pm
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2023 at 8:29 pm
And now we are blaming bicyclists. I think blaming is not productive. Problem-solving is productive. In this instance, if newspaper accounts are correct, the driver who hit the young man was not turning right. He illegally entered the bike lane. He was going straight. He illegally passed the driver in front of him who had stopped to turn left and hit the boy who was making a LEGAL left turn on a green light. In this instance (again, if the newspaper account is correct), the driver was at fault. We can all learn from this. People make mistakes and poor choices.
Let's design roads to minimize harm when road users make poor choices. Let's design roads to minimize speeding and uncontrolled turns and passing that can do terrible harm. As individuals, let's each use the road safely and legally. We cannot control what others do, but we can control our own actions. Good people, good citizens obey the law to keep each other safe. Do what YOU can do. Leave your house on time, so you aren't in a rush. Turn off your phone and drive attentively. Drive the speed limit. Share the road safely and legally. What YOU do matters, whether you are walking bicycling or driving .
Registered user
another community
on Sep 29, 2023 at 10:39 am
Registered user
on Sep 29, 2023 at 10:39 am
That fact remains that a car is like a tank when paired with pedestrians and bikes. When I see a j-walker or bad cyclist, I don't speed up. I pay attention to whatever mistake they are making and try to anticipate the next one so as not to hit them with my 3,500 hundred pound steel box.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Sep 29, 2023 at 11:20 am
Registered user
on Sep 29, 2023 at 11:20 am
The blame game doesn't solve anything. But stressing the finer points of vulnerability does as it does police presence to start with. Almost everyday I see drivers of all sorts of vehicles (namely running red lights) doing it without nary a concern of a hefty fine, points on your license, court mandates or "I'm calling your parents" just to name a few. Where is the PAPD?
Every accident is different. But in the ones in where the responsibility is undisputed patterns emerged. Don't run red lights. Stay on your lane. And keep your eyes peeled on the road not your phone.
Registered user
Greater Miranda
on Oct 6, 2023 at 5:41 am
Registered user
on Oct 6, 2023 at 5:41 am
These incidents serve as a reminder of the importance of vigilance and adherence to traffic rules, especially in areas with heavy pedestrian and cyclist traffic. It's crucial for both motorists and pedestrians/cyclists to exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. The safety of all road users remains a shared responsibility, and continued efforts to enhance traffic safety can help mitigate the risk of accidents. Web Link