Bicycling children hit by cars in two separate incidents

I am so sorry to hear this news. I want to ask the readers of this article to please tell every single person you know who rides a bike to have a rear light and something florescent (even just an ankle wrap). There are just too many cars on our streets. Too many distractions.

Also, please tell every single person you know who drives a car to turn off your phone before you start driving. Keep your eyes on the road and don't be distracted. Thank you.

Very sad new to hear and I wish them a speedy recovery.


The comments below are my own views and have Nothing to do with the accidents above or anyone connected to the accidents or the story above.

However I spent a good couple of hours this morning watching cyclist in Menlo Park running stops signs, going though red lights and then giving drivers in cars the middle finger.

A group of cyclist riding 4 of them side by side taking up one side of the road. Just racking though stops signs and two red lights.

Then there the 6 cyclist I watch in 20 mins on there phones while riding. And then there the cyclist who don't give way people on cross walks and cycle around them.

I think police should do a maximum enforcement on cyclist in the Bay Area. Letting these cyclist know they are not above the law and must follow the same law as other road users.

I agree—bikers are a nuisance and the sheriff needs to agressiveky enforce the laws. Too often I see bikers breaking the law and endangering others on the road as a process. For example on Portola and Alpine bikers will create a hazard and stick out of the bike lane into traffic, so I have to swerve around them. It’s very dangerous and bikers need to be aware of this. I hope that all bikers can be aware of their surroundings and cars need to as well. Thank you

Cars and bicycles simply do not mix well and the bicyclist always loses.

Green paint and sharrows provide zero protection and encourage a very dangerous proximity between cars and bikes.

The only solution is to provide physically separated and protected bike lanes.

Regardless of your feelings about packs of adult cyclists, it's important to keep in mind that these were KIDS.

Kids do not a firm grasp of all the rules of the road, the nuances of right of way, or how to handle situations involving lots of cars. It's best to be patient, give them room, and assume they're going to do something unpredictable.

Thanks for your patience!

I'm distraught to hear of another violent car collision in our community.
If you have a chance to check out the document: Designing for All Ages and Abilities Web Link

I hope we urge Palo Alto city representatives to design streets for humans over prioritizing cars. What that means is wider sidewalks, physically protected bike lanes, prioritizing high occupancy buses, narrowing roads, lowering the speed limit from 25 to 20mph. As our city densifies and urbanizes we need to consider how to move more people, not more cars. We have to let go of our cultural obsession with 1 car per person and our need for speed.

If we put everyone in single occupancy vehicles and design streets that only support speeding cars then we get violent car collisions especially affecting kids, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Sorry Human, but for what you suggest to work our city will have to "densify" to the likes of San Francisco and I don't see anyone in this city agreeing to that.

The article says that according to Sergeant Philip, in both collisions, the sun's position in the sky reflecting on slick roadways from overnight rain challenged both the cyclists' and drivers' vision.

I would like to add that some ways drivers can reduce this problem is to keep the car's windshield clean, inside and out, always, and if the windshield is old and nicked, then replace it. Dirt, oily films, and nicked glass make it a lot harder to see, especially when the sun is in one's eyes.

And if you can't see what is in front of you and where you are going, then please slow down. Thank you.

As someone who rides with his kids every day to school:

The morning sun is bad right now, I remind my kids of that every morning but I suspect most elementary school kids wouldn't be able to realize that cars are going to struggle with visibility

However there is no defense for any kid even in kindergarten not being aware of simple safety rules like stopping at a stop sign, or not running a red light. I would love to see Palo Alto/Menlo Park step up enforcement of traffic violations for kids (especially when they are accompanied by adults who are not being a good example). Every day I see kids run stop signs without even slowing, riding with their helmets attached to their bikes, or my personal favorite riding with helmet not on, earphones in both ears, and no hands because they are sending text messages while they ride. I think something like 10-20% of middle school and high school students ride this way. If you are a parent of a kid that bikes to school solo they are very likely riding in an unsafe manner.

Cars in Palo Alto are pretty tolerant of bikes for the most part given the challenges with dealing with bikes being completely unpredictable, especially in the winter months when you are heading southeast into the sun.

With so many "grown-ups" driving or riding bikes irresponsible, we can not expect our children to behave better and safer.
Especially when they get to see bad behavior from "role models" every day.

One should also remember that most of the same people who ride bikes also drive. And then they are not better drivers either....as one gets to experience when being on the receiving end as law-abiding cyclist or pedestrian.

Given that, one needs to take all the self-serving comments made here with a grain of salt and everybody lashing out a a certain group should take a look into the mirror.

So a story about kids being hit by a car turns into drivers ranting about cyclists.

I love the internet.

Car drivers are out of control: speeding, talking on cell phones, not signaling, double parking, texting and driving, I could go on and on. Now they are running over our children, something has to be done. I thinks bicyclists need dedicated car-free streets, perhaps every 5th or 10th one. These children did nothing wrong and are now injured due to yet another reckless driver.

" Kids do not (have) a firm grasp of all the rules of the road, the nuances of right of way, or how to handle situations involving lots of cars."

You're right,

Then shouldn't be riding a bike in local traffic until they do.

That section of Middlfield in Midtown does not have a bike lane.The kids should not have been riding in the road, they should have been on the sidewalk. They are lucky to be alive.

[Part removed] Resident -- "The kids should not have been riding in the road, they should have been on the sidewalk. They are lucky to be alive."

1) Bicycles CANNOT use sidewalks -- ever.

[Part removed.]

I can imagine some of these posters, if God forbid their child or grandchild was ever run over biking "WELL HE WAS PROBABLY WEARING DARK CLOTHES YOU KNOW BIKERS ALWAYS RUN STOP SIGNS ETC."

yet more nonsense:

actually the California Vehicle Code does not prohibit riding bicycles on sidewalks. It is left to local municipalities to regulate.

From the MP Municipal Code:

"11.56.120 Restriction of operation of bicycles on business district pedestrian facilities.
It is unlawful for any person to ride or operate a bicycle on any sidewalk within any business or commercial districts and zones within the city. (Ord. 900 § 1, 2000)."

So, in some areas of our city, bicycles CAN use the sidewalk.

There is a lot going on in this thread. First off, I wish the kids involved in these incidents a speedy and full recovery.

Now on to the issues raised here:

*Visibility - Cyclists should make sure they can be seen (daytime running lights are best day and night). Web Link Cyclists should also consider reflective/neon helmets. Drivers also need to make sure they can fully see when they are driving. This is especially important in the winter when we have frost on our windshields and morning sun in our eyes. When in doubt, pull over and make sure you feel safe before proceeding.

*Distracted driving - Drivers (and cyclists and pedestrians) should control their impulses and avoid using their phones while driving/biking/walking.

*Bad cycling behavior - It's terrible. We need more/better bike and ped education. It needs to start in kindergarten and at home (with parents). Interestingly, the incidents referenced in this article occurred in Palo Alto where they have an amazing bike education program in their schools. While education is part of solution, it is not enough on its own.

*Enforcement - Yes, we need to enforce the laws that we have. That being said, we need to be careful. I used to think that all kids not wearing helmets should be ticketed, but I've since learned that helmet laws disproportionately impact low-income, minority children. "Equity" is another part of Safe Routes and we need to be creative/sensitive when approaching some of these issues.

*Engineering - Some mentioned fully separating bikes and cars. I personally have a huge problem with sharrows - arrows painted on roads that indicate that bikes and cars should share the road. On streets with high speeds and high volumes, how can a bicyclist, especially a child on a bike, successfully "share" the road? We need to look towards more bike-friendly places around the world for successful examples of communities with separated bike lanes.

*Higher density - Transportation issues are closely linked to land use planning. The more housing (including affordable housing) closer to city centers, jobs and public transportation we have, the less reliance we (those in our community) will have on single-occupancy vehicle trips. The Silicon Valley is only growing...we need to accept that we're not small, rural villages.

*Parents/adults as "Roll" Models - How can we expect our community's kids to follow rules and bike safely when they see adults violating the law all around them? Please think this when you blow through a stop sign or forgo your helmet. Kids are watching.

*Sidewalk riding - As mentioned, sidewalk riding in Menlo Park is allowed, except in business districts. That being said, sidewalk riding carries some risks including that cars backing out of driveways aren't expecting people on bikes and it is a danger to pedestrians. I've also seen many kids go back and forth from riding on the sidewalk to the street, depending on the obstacles. This unpredictable riding is very dangerous. An option that is always available to cyclists is to dismount and to become a pedestrian. At times, this is definitely the best and safest thing to do.
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There is a transportation-related movement underway for "Vision Zero." This approach was started in Sweden and is gaining traction world-wide. This means no loss of life is acceptable. In order for this approach to be fully possible, we must all recognize, accept and internalize that humans are prone to make mistakes and our transportation designs must plan for that. As stated on the Swedish Vision Zero website (Web Link "The road system needs to keep us moving. But it must also be designed to protect us at every turn."

The City of Menlo Park's General Plan Circulation Element that was adopted in November 2016 stated that Vision Zero was a goal for the City (see p. 24 at Web Link We need to decide as a community if we're serious about Vision Zero and if so, we need to prioritize our transportation decisions around this principle.

Someone recently posted on a Safe Routes listserve about Vision Zero like this, "Think of a child who, by nature, is inherently easily distracted not just by Snapchat or iTunes, but always has been by a cool butterfly, a shout from across the street from a friendly face or an errant soccer ball. Think of the earbud example from the perspective of someone with a hearing, visual or cognitive impairment. That audience adds up to a lot of people - nearly half of us right now and eventually all of us who at some point will either be young, old, or differently-abled. Vision Zero holds that if someone does look down at their phone at the wrong time, and gets hit by a car, they should not have to pay with their life. Period." This is not just about kids, it's about all of us, from 8 to 80 and beyond.

Lots to think about.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season!

Jen Wolosin
Parents for Safe Routes
www.parents4saferoutes.org

Give thanks to Ellen Fletcher a Palo Alto advocate for safe bicycle infrastructure, (she actually promoted safe routes for children), and her initiative led to the first Bike Boulevard, "Bryant Street", and the very first "Bike Boulevard" in the State of California, and what we need is more people who understand that bicyclist, infrastructure is critical for our communities.

@ yet more Nonsense

I guess when you show your kids that it is OK to ride Four a breast on bicycles, and impeding traffic while doing so, that this is OK. What happened to common sense? The part of Midtown where this occurred, bikes should ride on the sidewalk. This is where I grew up, everybody knows it.

After forty years of driving in the hills, we are frustrated with the behavior of bicyclists. I can not count how many times in the middle of the day, I come around a corner and bicyclists are three abreast. Is everybody a venture capitalist, and does not need to work in the middle of a work day? Is this what you teach your children, that this behavior is perfectly OK?

Here is a word for thought:

'Here lies the body of William Jay
Who died maintaining his right of way -
He was right, dead right, as he sped along,
But he's just as dead as if he were wrong.'

Web Link

“What is clear in the Vision Zero era is that truly prioritizing bike safety means building separated bike lanes.“

Web Link