Posted by Horselady, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2012 at 6:17 pm

Usually when this happens, there is no record of it in the police report log. There was a terrible bike accident in September on Bryant Ave, but no police report, no news article.

I would love to know why, because most of us want to know what happened and if the injured person is okay.

Posted by resident, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2012 at 8:55 pm

I was hit by a car when riding my bike in Palo Alto last year. A witness called the 911 and the police and ambulance responded. The police talked to the driver and the witnesses and declared that the driver was at fault, running a stop sign and hitting me. I suffered bruised ribs (missed several days of work) as well as a totalled bicycle. The cops declined to cite the driver, even though they said their report would fault the driver. I guess this is how they keep bicyclist injuries out of the police log.

Instead, they told me to work out the damages through the driver's insurance company. I was still in shock at the time of the crash, so didn't really question this policy. Fortunately, the driver's insurance company did pay up.

Posted by Outside Observer, a resident of another community, on Nov 5, 2012 at 9:14 pm

The volume of these incidents, regardless of blame, would tarnish Palo Alto's image as a bicycle-friendly town.

That's why they aren't reported.

Posted by PA Central Resident, a resident of the Evergreen Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2012 at 10:26 pm

I live fairly close to the scene of the complex and have been hoping that the cyclist was able to get the necessary help in a timely manner. I don't know what caused the accident, but, I know that I've seen way too many cars zip up and down the street way faster than it should. I was surprised that none of the local papers/publications had published an article about this.

Posted by PA Resident, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2012 at 11:03 pm

I saw the mangled bike on my lunch break. There was heavy policy presence and didn't look good. I couldn't shake the image since lunch and also wondered if the bicyclist was OK. I ride Park to go to work and do notice that cars pull out of the parallel parking spots without checking if a bicyclist is coming from behind them.

Posted by horselady, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 8:56 am

There was a post in September about this, but no one responded to it. My husband, who was in law enforcement a very long time ago until he decided to go back to school, said that cops HATE report writing. Maybe that has something to do with it.

If you check out the police log, many reports are submitted DAYS after the incident, but bike accidents do not seem to make it at all! This is unacceptable. It looks like PAPD does not think some crimes are important enough for a report!

Posted by Concened, a resident of the Evergreen Park neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 12:28 pm

Saw the street closed about 7:40 yesterday morning and had to detour around several blocks to get back on Park Ave. As I looked back, I saw the mangled bike and I believe a van with its windshild busted on the passenger side. My husband later tried to go down Park Ave, maybe around 10:30 and the street was still blocked off with the bike still there.

Living close to the site of this accident, and with my 2 kids riding their bikes to elementary school and my husband biking to work at the Stanford Hospital, makes be nervous to have them leave the house in the morning.

Last night, while my husband was walking our dog, came home and said that a bicyclist was stopped by a police officer after going through a stop sign.

I feel both drivers and bikers need to be more aware of their surroundings and pay attention to where they're going and what they are doing. If talking on a phone is illegal in California, so should riding a bike while talking on the phone.

Posted by Ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 7, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Ducatigirl is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

Resident: I am so sorry for your experience, and I hope that you are recovered from your injuries.

I have to say, that I would think that in a collision between a car and a bike, the auto insurance and health insurance companies would insist on seeing a police report. What can you tell them when none was taken? What do insurance companies do when no police report can be found??

Is there not some law on the books making a police report mandatory in any injury accident? The drivers are required by law to fill out a report for the DMV.

By the way, does the police department have any excuse or reason for why reported incidents , some in which several police cars show up, are never reported in the police log?

Posted by member, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Nov 17, 2012 at 5:37 pm

My son was the person who was hit by the car. Is anyone a witness to this act? We would like details, especially on the driver. My son is not doing too good and we are very sad about this.