Posted by sidewalk, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:26 am

Does "walking along the west side of the road" mean she was walking on the sidewalk? Or was she walking in the bike lane? Either way, why couldn't the driver see her? Was he too busy looking at traffic on the left and not looking at pedestrians right in front of him?

Posted by Resident, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:36 am

Everyone is in a rush and rude without paying attention. There are really very few people who are kind and aware these days, and it's frighting. This could have been avoided, what a shame.

Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:39 am

I cannot imagine missing a pedestrian in this area …. it's both wide open and there is a lot of traffic so you really have to watch what you are doing. The driver in this case was not watching what he was doing. I have driven all my life and succeeded in never killing anyone. I think whoever it is should be charged and convicted of manslaughter or negligent homicide. At the very least they should not be driving ever again. What a horrible way to die. Out for a walk and someone slams into you with their car.

I see a lot of people driving like they don't even have a brain lately too. Just yesterday I was going down Homer (one-way) and a car was going the wrong way turning onto Middlefield, then on the way back on Channing (also one-way) there was an accident where apparently someone else tried to turn the wrong way onto Channing and hit something.

There is a rash of something going on with people's driving, and particularly with younger people. I think they see driving and cars like video games or they are too influenced by the idiotic movies of today, or maybe its just the lack of police enforcement.

Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:41 am

> I cannot imagine missing a pedestrian in this area …

Should have read "I cannot imagine missing SEEING a pedestrian in this area" … sorry, poor choice of words. This story is really sad.

Posted by Raymond Lucas, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:46 am

The 'art' of being a pedestrian requires looking out for yourself. A pedestrian must assume that drivers don't see you and act accordingly. It is simple self preservation.

Posted by BC, a resident of Los Altos, on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:50 am

I believe the sidwalk is closed right next door due to the Construction project. So the vitcim and driver were both at a disadvantage. Right now there is very little foot traffic on that side so the driver assumed that noone comes on that side.

Posted by Drivers, slow down, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 4:20 pm

@ Raymond

She was 81, Raymond, everybody can't rush out of harm's way. Some older people can only walk slowly. The onus is on drivers to be careful. slow down, and watch out for pedestrians.

RIP Soraya. Such a pretty name you had...

Posted by pat, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 4:33 pm

Sometimes pedestrians step right in front of cars. Pedestrians often fail to realize that even at a slow speed, a vehicle requires considerable stopping distance. Don't always rush to blame the driver.

Posted by sidewalk, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 5:01 pm

Highly unlikely that an 81 year old woman is physically able to jump out of nowhere in front of a moving car.

The woman is likely walking 1 mph or so. A car approaching a sidewalk should be driving at most 5 mph. The woman was likely walking through the driveway for a considerable period of time before the car arrived. There has to be plenty of time for the driver to see her, if the driver is paying attention. An 81 year old is not going to be able to quickly change direction and jump out of the way, unfortunately.

Posted by Donald, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 25, 2012 at 6:23 pm

The driver was exiting the gas station. Stopping distance should be very short at speeds appropriate for leaving a gas station.

Posted by traveler, a member of the JLS Middle School community, on Jun 27, 2012 at 7:16 am

So very sorry to hear about Ms. Imam's untimely passing. Although I didn't know her, her passing was also very sad, coming on the heels of an accident that claimed the life of an acquaintance of mine the same morning.

People NEED to be more attentive behind the wheel.

Some are also very inconsiderate, yelling and cursing at others just because the person in front of them is not moving as fast as THEY want them to. Time to show more consideration towards others when you are operating a vehicle.