Pedestrian killed while crossing Embarcadero is identified

I really hope the city does something about the speeding on our residential streets. People pass me going 45-50 mph in the afternoon after school pick-up. There are tons of kids at Newell and Embarcadero and people just can’t bring themselves to slow down. It’s ridiculous that I can’t let my kids ride their bikes to their neighborhood school because of the traffic.

Pick-up drivers are the most inconsiderate of all. When I see one trying to overtake me, I just slow down, close my eyes, and wait for it to be over.

Speeding on residential streets is a major menace. I was zipping down Oregon at the posted 35 mph the other day, and I was being passed by cars that must have been doing at least 50 mph. I don’t remember the last time I saw someone pulled over for speeding, but it’s been eons.

“She was in her 70s, she was old, who cares?” Yes, if it was a child we’d all be especially upset, but I expect this woman had a lifetime’s worth of people who cared. Bad driving is out of control, and we’re going to see more of these incidents. People around here just feel too entitled. Especially those driving bigger vehicles.

Bring back the traffic cops on motorcycles. They city cut them a year or two ago. Unfreeze the frozen police positions and lets get some more cops on the streets.

I agree with the comments about drivers going too fast through intersections, especially at Newell and Embarcadero during the day.

HOWEVER, the important thing to keep in mind here is that the woman was crossing between Walnut and Bret Harte. That is not an intersection — there are no crosswalks anywhere near there (which is presumably why she chose to try to cross rather than walking down to one of the intersections). In the dark, there would be no reason to anticipate that someone would be in the middle of the street in that area.

City of Palo Alto–please do something about pedestrian safety on Embarcadero Street east of Middlefield, and particularly around Mark Twain, Bret Harte and Walnut! Combination of insufficient crosswalks and excessive speed has made this street very dangerous for pedestrians.

There are only four crosswalks at Newell, Louis, Greer and St. Francis over a stretch of a mile. Around Mark Twain, Bret Harte and Walnut, crossing to the Art Center/the library/community garden is subject to 5 way traffic with cars coming from these streets plus the Art Center parking lot. Even during the day, and even when there are a lot of pedestrians like during the Glass Pumpkin Festivals, it is tough enough crossing without enduring cars coming fast at you without slowing down, or honking at you, leave alone at night.

I don’t know about the speed of cars at the time of accident, but in general, if you were driving at speed limit of 25 mph on Embarcadero, most cars behind you would come really close to you and then swirl to the next lane and continue driving at speed way above 25 mph (or 30 or 35 mph). If you stopped at the leftmost lane at an intersection without traffic light to make a left turn, you will notice at least a few cars behind you making quick lane change and zooming past you without slowing down. Last year, a car did not stop fast enough and hit another car already stopped on east bound Embarcadero waiting to turn left to Walnut.

If you walk across in the middle of a smaller residential street, cars would slow down and let you cross. If you cross Embarcadero in the middle of the street, you better run because cars are not slowing down. I sense drivers’ mentality is different at Embarcadero, they drive as if they are driving on an expressway while this is a residential street, with just more lanes! And they have to worry about cars coming fast behind them too.

Please, City of Palo Alto, do something, for the sake of safety of pedestrians!

Drivers need to change but they’ll keep shifting blame suggesting any idea that affects them the least…just watch.

I wondered why there was a helicopter circling our neighborhood last night. This is so tragic for both families, and those of us in the neighborhood who have concerns about safety in this area.

There is an exit driveway for the Art Center and Main Library on Embarcadero between Walnut and Bret Harte, which is where many people cross illegally; probably where this occurred. There isn’t good lighting for drivers to see at night, and this does need to be addressed. It is also a hastle to go the extra block up to Newell (or down to Louis) to use the crosswalk and light, but as a parent with children and the having the ability and agility to walk distance, I do it for my safety and to set an example.

The street lights at Walnut/Embarcadero are often out, and when they are on they are very dim. The lighting is poor on the street in general. Few of us actually go 25 on Embarcadero and when we do, we are passed aggressively.

I’m so sorry to hear about this tragedy. May this sad situation turn into action to make our neighborhood safer.

I rarely see police doing traffic stops in Palo Alto, but I do see tons of speed, red light, cell phone violations every day. I would love to see the city pay for a few traffic cops by pulling maybe 10 more traffic stops per day.

Whether or not it takes a tragedy to evoke response — and it shouldn’t — the fact is that Palo Alto has a higher rate of bad drivers than many other communities. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. One is that there has been an almost deliberate effort over the years to create traffic congestion under the theory that “if we make it difficult for people to drive here,they won’t.” Fact is that most people who drive here do so because they need to. Traffic snarls just motivate them to speed when they can and to cut through neighborhoods when they can’t.

Another reason is a lack of enforcement. And yet another reason is the lack of social sanctions against people who use oversized vehicles for recreational purposes. And finally, there’s the aforementioned sense of entitlement and self-importance. My schedule and my needs take priority over everything else, including someone’s life.

By the way, pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, including unmarked crosswalks. California Vehicle Code 21950. So you drivers in a hurry do need to stop for pedestrians, whether or not there are stripes. In fact, research has shown that unmarked crosswalks are safer for pedestrians!

I see police several times a week monitoring and ticketing speeders on Embarcadero. They often hide in the parking lot at First Congregational, and sometimes down by West Bayshore getting speeders coming over the bridge. As short staffed as they are, I think they do a pretty good job of policing Embaracdero.

It is easy for me see why this accident happened. Because it is a slower road, she probably thought it was safe to cross. But being she is not as young as she used to be she was not quick enough to do so safely. This street is lined with trees and parked cars which can hide a pedestrian attempting to cross making it harder for a driver to see them at night.
I simply don’t use this road for all of the above reasons.

Shame on you, peter. Have some respect for the poor victim. You should also do something about your nasty temperament. You should get some help.

“Police did not name the victim. They said they do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor” .. Does police thoroughly finish its own investigation? We know many street accidents not caused by drugs or alcohol these days!

“…most drivers don’t seem to realize that the speed limit on the road is 25 mph” How can this be? There are lots of signs, flashing speed radar signs, blinking yellow lights at the school, etc. I think drivers know the speed limit and just don’t care.

That’s a sad story. The pedestrian seems to have misjudged the truck’s speed, and the driver seems not to have been paying proper attention.

Both were probably taking shortcuts, but neither could gain much in the process. A pedestrian coming to that point from the library saves 2-3 minutes, and maybe 300 steps, by not going to the light at Newell. A driver going from Middlefield to 101 saves 1 minute by going 40 instead of 25, and needs twice as much distance to stop. Considering how much can go wrong, it hardly seems worth it.

If you think about the numbers realistically, you’ll probably slow down a little, and maybe save a life, maybe your own.

Please remember that the police did not issue a ticket for speeding — or anything else — to this driver. We should not jump to conclusions.

That said: I wish that the public would be better educated about proper driving techniques. I’m not from California originally, so there was something of a culture shock in terms of driving when I moved here.

Is the put driving and lack of following normal and standard driving etiquette due to some cultural reasons or simply a lack of familiarity to U.S. driving laws and standards?

all the idiots that say you have no business crossing there, where is she supposed to cross? have you ever been walking in a town and need to cross the street, but the nearest crosswalk is one mile away? What should an exhausted 70 year old woman do walking in this pedestrian safety forsaken town. You people probably never walked anywhere in your life besides to your refrigerator, yet you find it easy to comment and tell people where to cross. What if she was tired or needed medication, what should she do, just lay down on the sidewalk and take a nap until she gets the energy to walk to the nearest crosswalk? Car driving idiots, it should be a capital offense driving stupidly.

She should have just called 911 and gotten a ride, being on foot in this town is a nightmare, i can’t imagine being 79 and stuck in that rotten part of the city.

Very poor place for pedestrians and bicyclists

From the article, she crossed “Embarcdero BETWEEN Walnut Drive and Bret Harte Street, Palo ALto Police said.” Folks, this is like crossing anywhere in the middle of the street. It is jaywalking. It is unexpected to any driver to have this occur, and even if the driver had slammed on the brakes, then a rear-ending would likely occur if this were commonplace. Plus it was dark. Please cross at crosswalks.
Yes, Embarcadero is an arterial. We have a lot of drivers going up to Stanford.

Since the police will not release the accident report to the public, and there will no doubt be some sort of civil legal action in the wings, the pulic may never know what happened.

> “It’s a way that you are always tempted to cross, but you
> really have no business crossing there,” he said. Traffic
> goes full speed, and the area is not well lit, he added.

This is a problem what everyone who lives in the area must understand. It certainly pays to carry a flash light, or even some sort of personal illumination device to help oncoming motorists see pedestrians.

It also might be resonable for the City to add a couple street lights in the dark spots. Crossing Embarcadero at any location other than a cross-walk is not a good idea, but extra light would be an inexpensive way to reduce risk for all.

I often cross Embarcadero right where the victim had been crossing when she was hit but I make sure that there are no vehicles within at least three hundred yards on either direction and then i run across the road as fast as I can. The legal limit on Embarcadero is 25MPH I believe, but the actual average speed is about 20 MPH faster, and when traffic is not heavy it is significantly even higher.

People drive too fast on Embarcadero. We need to try harder to slow them down. It is safer to cross at crosswalks, but if cars are going too fast for the conditions — it’s a residential street used by kids to get to schools, parks, and churches — walking between painted lines on the road is not going to help.

One thing I learned in traffic school is this – one factor in determining speed limits is the number of driveways entering the street. There are lots and lots of driveways on Embarcadero which could result in the 25MPH limit.

“neighbor, a resident of another community”, FYI, what the victim did was not jaywalking, She was perfectly within her rights to cross Embarcadero where she did. However, I’m willing to bet that the hitting driver was driving significantly over the 25 MPH speed limit(just about everybody does). The reality is that Embarcadero driving is quite scandalous and no one is doing a thing about it.
Perhaps she was crossing in the dark, wearing dark cloths and couldn’t be visible to the driver, but she was not jaywalking and if the driver was driving within the speed limit he/she could have possibly had enough time to stop once they noticed her..

Very good point, Daniel, that “no one is doing anything about” excessive speed on Embarcadero. I hope the city will do something moving forward.

We will have to wait for the toxicology reports on the woman who died

She may have taken ambien or have been under the influence of any number of prescription drugs and/or alcohol.

It is very bad judgment to cross a busy street at night without a stop sign or light.

The driver was sober-the micro-chip from his vehicle will show his speed.

If he was not speeding dangerously then he deserves our sympathy

Wow, what an insensitive comment… My goodness, unbelievable…

how sad? we blame the driver when someone’s grandmother dies. what about the woman driver? do you think she we be able to ever cope with this tragedy?

Sure, speed and crossing at an unexpected place are likely factors in this tragedy, but I think the color of clothing the victim was wearing can be a under-appreciated factor in this accident.

Recently I was driving on the Stanford campus at night (at a normal speed) and was stunned to suddenly have a bicyclist (no light/reflectors/ and dark clothing) suddenly appear of out seemingly no where about 15 feet in front of me. Luckily I avoided this person and he was indigent about it, but his dark clothing (and no lights or reflectors) really made him invisible at night.

Los Altos is one place that has darker streets than this part of Palo Alto. But they also have cross-walks with flashing LEDs embedded into them. I find those to be very effective in helping pedestrians get across the street. Perhaps Palo Alto should look at getting installing this here too, especially near schools and libraries in the city.

Sorry for the victim and her family. My condolences.

Without suggesting whether the driver in this accident was speeding or not, I do want to say that there is indeed a constant speeding problem on Embarcadero and this street is not as safe as it needs to be.

Last summer, two cars collided at the traffic light controlled Embarcadero & Middlefield intersection. The impact flipped one of them over.

Trying to cross Embarcadero at any intersection without traffic lights is a major hazard at any time, on foot or by car. Walking across any side street that feeds into Embarcadero is not much safer. With the volume and the speed of traffic on Embarcadero, the anxious drivers with the focus on making it across or making a turn, sometimes fail to see the pedestrians walking along the street. Another fatal accident on Embarcadero a few years ago involved a car crossing it and a pedestrian proceeding along it.

We all understand that Embarcadero is very important for traffic in & out of Palo Alto and accidents happen at any busy streets. However, Embarcadero is a residential street neighboring Walter Hays elementary school, Rinconada park, the art center, the main library, among other things that residents, especially children and seniors visit frequently. To leave the traffic untamed on a street so close to so many major community facilities is not reasonable or responsible, in my opinion.

From the city’s website, a traffic calming study was done in 2000. The following link contains a PDF and an excellent FAQ.

http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/topics/projects/transit/embarcadero.asp

It seems that one of the proposed solution was overwhelmingly favored by the public at a meeting. However for what ever reason, it appears nothing had been done with this proposal. In the last decade, I would guess the traffic situation on the road has only gotten worse.

The 2011 Palo Alto Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan maps show Embarcadero prominently in terms of bicycle and pedestrian collisions from 2004-2009 among northwest-southeast bound roads through Palo Alto — only second to University avenue where there are a lot more bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

http://www.altaprojects.net/files/8813/1171/3023/Palo_Alto_BPTP_Draft_Plan_Maps.pdf

I hope the city will not drop this issue while the problem persists. I personally think we should reconsider the proposal of 2000.

Indeed, Indy 500 it appears. Only if you accept it is a problem. Like many readers have already pointed out, it is a problem for Walter Hays kids, hundreds of kids riding bike to Jordan everyday, pedestrians visiting Art Center, library, Rinconada Park, cars on Embarcadero itself. But is it a problem worthwhile to the City to solve?

The excessive speed on Embarcadero was already known for years. Way back in 2000, there were already a study and proposal for it. See Embarcadero Road Traffic Calming Study http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/topics/projects/transit/embarcadero.asp. While the roundabouts might be too radical or ahead of their time, the creation of bulb-outs, the modification of the geometry of the intersections and replacement of street lights with pole-mounted fixtures now sound like smart and sensible ideas, if they were now implemented. That would have made the pedestrian crossing distance much smaller and the street to appear smaller which in turn would discourage drivers flying by.

Now when would these be considered???

No comment about texting while walking/ driving yet?

@ Alan/Greenmeadow,
You mention there are some special crosswalks in Los Altos (where it is indeed darker owing to lack of streetlights) that have some embedded lights that flash when someone crosses the street., bright flashing things – yet I personally understand them yet some other drivers either do not or else blatantly ignore them.
There is one of those prominently on San Antonio Rd heading towards downtown Los Altos after ECR intersection(Loucks is the minor cross street on one side, by the gas station) AND I have witnessed many cars speed through there (though I stop my car to wait for the pedestrians), so those don’t necessarily work. I have been concerned about potentially being rear-ended by drivers behind me when I legally stop. Sometimes one lane of drivers has proceeded while the other lane has stopped (so pedestrian is unsure if safe to proceed — he or she can’t really see).
I think there are some streets that are thoroughfares – we don’t want drivers cutting through neighborhoods, remember that! – and pedestrians just have to be extremely careful. People drive into Palo Alto on Embarcadero and it is unrealistic to make the length of this route 25MPH all the way into Stanford.

The traffic along Embarcadero is always nerve wracking — even if you’re going speed limit there are tailgating drivers behind you. I got into an accident at the Willow and Embarcadero accident because someone ran a red light going fast enough to wedge my front license plate deeply into his rear tire. There needs to be more police regulation or at least officers present at the side of intersections to make traffic slow down. Lots of people also speed down Middlefield around the midtown Safeway area down to where the Mitchell Park library is.

unrealistic is truth as long as no penalty involved. Let setup some cameras and give out $100 ticket to those who drives over 25mph. We will see the result very quickly.

The legal speed on Embarcadero is not the 25 posted speed limit. That is the arbitrarily low number the City puts on its signs but not the legal speed.

With the exception of Highways, Legal and justifed limits are set forth under state guidelines and speed surveys which bring the speed on Embarcadero in many places up to the mid 30’s or higher. Thats why the for the most part the city can’t use radar on these streets with artifical speed limits that are set too low.

You could post 5 MPH out there but it doesn’t mean its enforceable.

Embarcadero is a 4 lane major thoroughfare across the entire city that should be posted at 35 or 40 like other towns.

Its not a residential street as many have proclaimed.

Condolences!

Imposing 25 MPH limit in PA is pipe dream. It is like to ask teens away from s*x or people in Colorado away from weed.

We have to deal with reality.

California Vehicle Code Section 22352 Prima Facie Speed Limits: Twenty-five miles per hour on any highway other than a state highway, in any business or residence district unless a different speed is determined by local authority under procedures set forth in this code.

California Vehicle Code Section 360 Highway: “Highway” is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

I agree with (Good Job PAFD!) and Stay Safe!!!

Have you “blame the driver” people never, ever had a heartbeat-skippingly close call with a pedestrian or bicyclist? Even if you were undistractedly driving 10 mph below the speed limit, with perfect road conditions, in a situation where it probably would have been determined not to have been your fault “legally”? I have had several, and they are frightful.

What the pickup truck driver is going through is tremendous pain and second-guessing. Let us not dump our rancor on her before the facts are known.

This is sad, for both driver and pedestrian! This is not simply a Palo Alto problem.

I live over on the Unincorporated Midcoast, and we have similar situations here too. Even on a bright, sunny day tourists stroll blatantly across Hwy. One, to get to Sam’s Chowder House or the beach, with very little regard as to the dangers of possibly inattentive drivers (some also from out of town) hitting them as they gawk at waves instead of keeping their eyes ahead on the road. There is no enforcement of laws against the jay-walking pedestrians over here either.

But on another note, since I am now past 60 years old, I have noticed that my night vision, combined with an old windshield, often interfere with my ease of sight when a person darkly dressed suddenly appears in the roadway. I too have been surprised to see cyclists not wearing reflective gear, or pedestrians with no flashlight risking an outing at night. Therefore I do drivemorecarefuly on our rural, darkly lit (if at all illuminated) roads.

That’s why they are called accidents.

Prudently, one slows down at night, but still, if pedestrians or cyclists would take more precautions, it could help.

One should never assume that:

1.) A driver will see you and stop or even slow down.
2.) A driver has good vision.
3.) A driver will be able to stop in time, once they see you.
4.) A driver is paying full attention to the road ahead.
5.) A driver is aware of the speed limit on a 4 lane road way.
6.) A driver is from your area and thus will take precautions to avoid known dangers.
7.) Pedestrians will use caution when walking at night.(Including wearing light-colored or reflective clothing.)
8.) Pedestrians will only be in cross-walks.
9.) Pedestrians or Drivers might not be impaired, either physically or due to consuming a substance, and thus less cautious.
10.)Street lighting is sufficient to see the path ahead. (Sometimes light poles are burned out or often bright lights from on-coming traffic make it difficult to do see.)
11.) That all drivers will always know/observe the speed limit.
12.) That “you” somehow are immortal and can’t have, or be in, an accident, albeit driver or pedestrian.

As a driver, I like the flashing pedestrian crosswalks I have seen in Redwood City along Middlefield. It too is four lanes, compounded by visual “clutter” from the many businesses on either side. There are many cross streets, while at the same time, it is a major link to Palo Alto/Atherton through Redwood City. It helps to draw attention to this out-of-towner passing through, to be alerted that a small person (not in a protective vehicle) is attempting to cross the street. There must have been many accidents before they put in those flashing cross-walks. As an out-of-the-area driver in Palo Alto, I can’t say I ever paid attention to posted spped signs on Embarcadero, rather, I probably just went along with flow of other drivers’ speeds…which comments imply may have been 30-40 mph. That might be human nature, so I will be far more cautious in the future!

Saying the speed limit on Embarcadero should be 35mph is an “understatement”. I routinely see people driving at a speed above 40 mph and probably closer to 50 mph!

The location and the configuration of Embarcadero perhaps give some drivers the illusion that it is an expressway. It is NOT. Unlike an expressway, there are many homes with their front and driveway on Embarcadero. A lot of homes have their only access from Embarcadeo. There is an elementary school and there is a park right next to the road. Traveling above 25 mph on Embarcadero can’t be safer for any one, not for the driver, not for the pedestrians.

I am both a frequent traveler on this street and a resident living pretty close to it. I think the travelers and the residents can work out ways to share this road peacefully and safely. Personally I also believe there are more effective ways to solve the problem without having to increase perennial police patrol on this road.

#1) As a traveler, I don’t really find Embarcadero the fastest route to cross between 101 and Stanford. If I am in a hurry, I would take Oregon Expressway. The traffic moves faster and it is much safer because there is no driveway on to it and no schools next to it. You don’t get stuck behind vehicles trying to make a left turn — and you don’t have to make dangerous lane changes to get around it.
Besides, I don’t see the point of speeding on Embarcadero. However fast you travel, you are bound to get stuck at the Embarcadero/Oregon/101 ramp. Going by Oregon expressway gets me ahead of the long queue.

Planning it wisely saves the traveler more time than speeding or running red lights.

#2) As a resident, I do hope the city do something to change the configuration of the Embarcadero road so that it doesn’t look so much like an expressway and a little more convenient for the pedestrians. We can improve safety without reducing throughput of traffic. Note that even at any intersection without traffic light, it is incredibly dangerous to cross this street. But many many people do that. If I were a tired senior, I might just have to do that. However since the traffic lights are not synchronized, it is very hard to find an opportunity that there is no traffic from either left or right. Often people simply get impatient and make unwise decisions to rush through. One small thing that might help is to create some refuge islands in the middle of Embarcadero. That would vastly improve the chance of a pedestrian’s survival. I believe it also helps the traffic because you will need fewer sudden slowdown & stops for seniors who can’t make to the other side in time.

Even if my ideas do not work, I wish the city, the travelers and the residents can really think hard and work together to find a good permanent solution to make this street safer and smoother for everybody.

College terrace neighborhood and Charleston/Arastradero neighborhood have both tackled traffic calming projects. Can’t we do something here?

When and where is the next council meeting with a public commenting session?

When I was a kid my mother told me that the pedestrian “always has right of way” and that is a good thing for drivers to remember. I have seen so many drivers who refuse to even let me cross at a cross walk when I have the green light. I think there are so many out of staters. My suspicion of the ones that would just as soon mow you down is that they came from Boston. People are so checked out in this digital age as well. Was the driver fully engaged in driving? I wonder. Was there some other distraction going on. I feel for both the victim and the driver. But please, people, SLOW down and respect our residential neighborhoods. Oregon is an Expressway and Embarcadero is not. Thanks

Someone wrote it was 1/10th of a mile to the crosswalk at Louis Rd., or 600 feet. This is wrong. From the point halfway between Walnut and Bret Harte, it’s 840 feet. However, this is only one way, and you have to walk back as well, so it’s 1680 feet, over 3/10 of a mile. All to cross a 60 foot wide road.

And instead of simply crossing Embarcadero, staying within crosswalks requires you to cross first Walnut, then Embarcadero, then Louis, so she would’ve had to cross three streets instead of one.

If you go look at the photographs or look it up on Google Maps … you can see plainly, as we all know, Embarcadero is a lone very straight street … particularly in this area, and the “intersection” is a “T” intersection and whether it is well-lit or not anyone who hits someone with their car there is at fault – in my opinion.

I also think it is not necessarily speeding that is the problem – it is almost always not paying attention and then losing control.

People have unilaterally decided not to respect Embarcadero’s 25MPH speed limit, probably with good reason, so the least they could do is be attentive to their driving, even if it is to look for a police car. If I had been driving that truck, I’d be blaming myself.

We are going to keep having deaths like this as streets get more crowded and there are more distractions, until we finally just automate driving by machine. People, especially the people of today seem to have very limited attention spans.

A very pertinent image posted the other day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16nine/8415594735/

Embarcadero is the first street in Palo Alto I drove on when I moved here in 1985. I was struck immediately by how low the speed limit was given the road’s design. That’s why very few drivers obey the speed limit, and why drivers who do get harassed.

It’s also why people get killed trying to cross. For all the “look both ways first” folks: keep in mind that the driver may have been going far faster than expected, or may have turned from a side street and accelerated hard. It’s not easy to cross a street where cars are going by at 35-40 mph without a signal.

But the solution isn’t to force people on foot to walk far out of their way to cross at a signal light. The solution is to redesign the street so that drivers slow down naturally. If that extra 30 second travel time bothers drivers, too bad. It takes a lot longer than 30 seconds for a pedestrian to walk a long block or two just to cross the street.

Speeding on Embarcadero & Middlefield roads are always a problem. Very few drivers maintain the posted speed limit of 25 mph. I hope PAPD increases the patrolling and issues heavy fines for speeders. I’m really concerned for the safety of school going kids and residents who prefer walking and biking on our streets.

Well, Daniel, if palo alto had anything resembling a viable public transportation system, your suggestion might be worthwhile . However given the reality — we are nowhere near Europe or even many US cities in public transportation. Also given that all streets in palo alto, even Oregon expressway, are residential– your suggestion regarding through traffic is a non-starter. Also given the palo alto mindset– get rid of traffic lanes and cars will magically disappear– car traffic is here to stay and in fact is the life blood of a city like palo alto.

I just witnessed another close call this morning while walking my kids to Walter Hays. A lady tried to make a rush right turn from Embarcadero to Middlefield when the kids are about to set foot on the crosswalks. Many people yelled and the traffic guide ran in to stop the car in the middle.

The sign there says “No right turn on red when children are present”. It is a 4 way red for a period of time in the morning and afternoon. There is always a city worker guiding the traffic during that time. This morning at that moment, there were about a dozen children who are trying cross north and west. The driver could have run into kids in both crosswalks.

Unfortunately such violations happen many times everyday at this intersection even with the presence of the city worker.

It might not be the best use of local police forces to catch traffic violations, but perhaps we should have some traffic cameras installed along Embarcadero and hand out some serious fines for the folks who would risk plowing through a crowd to save a minute.

I live on Heather Lane. I walk and bike in the neighborhood frequently, almost daily. I cross Embarcadero to get to the First Congregational Church. Sometimes I jay-walk, because it’s inconvenient to go to the cross-walk at Louis and double-back. I take a great deal of care, esp. at night.

BUT: even when I cross at the cross-walk at Louis, and use the PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL, it’s clear that 5-10% of drivers either abuse the yellow light (actually, they run the red light), or blow through the stop light even 5 sec after it has turned red. As a consequence, even when I have a white WALK signal, I do not enter the intersection unless and until traffic is stopped in both directions. (I actually prefer heavy traffic in that event, because the stopped cars protect me from idiots.)

Palo Alto in particular, and the Bay Area in general, has an epidemic of drivers who fail to use turn signals, who drive too fast, and who run red lights. All with impunity. Drivers’ education has been ‘driven’ out of the schools and foisted on driving ‘schools’, whose standards, processes, and procedure fall short of what a modern state centered on automobile transportation requires. We need to fail more drivers at the DMV. We need to have cameras in place to catch speeders and people who run red lights. We need to have automated ticketing procedures, as they have through much of Europe. OR: we need to figure out how to get people to drive the right way, without such punitive strictures.

I agree with the previous two posters. We should follow the European example in which pedestrians and cyclist are given priority over cars are al;ways last in the pecking order.
We can’t ban cars yet from entering the city, although that should happen in the future as more public trasportation options are available, but we should create an environment in which speeding and breaking of driving rules are extremely expensive, as should be parking. This would make drivers, especially put of town drivers, examine their priorities and think long and hard before they use motor vehicle in Palo Alto and before they run a red light, blow past a stop sign or cut through a residential neighborhood.

The City does not get to set the fines for vehicle code violations; those are set at the state level. The City can set fees for parking, although they prefer not to charge for it.

@Walter Hays Parent – Your interpretation of the law may be correct, but is irrelevant. It isn’t jaywalking no matter where she crossed because the block isn’t bounded by traffic signals. Cars should yield, but as a pedestrian crossing a busy street, you better own the responsibility of getting across with your life.

Right, heard enough now. Unmarked crosswalks where there are small intersections which can’t be seen in the dark, particularly be drivers who are not from the area.

Come on. We need to be a lot more savvy than this. People should cross the road when it is safe to do so in a place that is safe to do so. Unmarked crosswalks are a joke. Just like glass hammers.

Unless I am interpreting what is being said incorrectly.

Daniel– do you know how many people come not palo alto work? Don’t you think the y spend money here. And who do you think cleans you homes, makes your coffee at Starbucks etc. do you think they all live here? They contribute much to your quality of life. Palo alto actively recruits visitors to the city. They love it when visitors come to Stanford for arts, sports ,medical care and eat, stay and spend money in palo alto. Why do you think palo alto wants car dealers in the city?
Sorry, your elitist attitude is wrong. “outsiders” contribute plenty to palo alto and it should stay like that. Perhaps a gated community in the hills would suit you more.
Cars are the life blood of palo alto

The only thing that makes sense is to “harden” Embarcadero and open it to more, quicker, and safer traffic that will respond to bicyclist and pedestrians effectively if they need to cross … not to mention the way it is now it is hard to get onto Embarcadero even in a car or to get off of it – like onto Churchill, for example.

It is ridiculous that we create these symbolic things like maintaining a 25 mph speed limit and residential “look” around Embarcadero when it’s simple a symbolic facade of the past … the city is changing and I am about as anti-“progress” as one can get, but infrastructure is really key to the whole quality of life thing, and isn’t that what we want?

Bite the bullet, impose on those who live on Embarcadero and do something to open it up similar to Oregon Expwy. I wonder if any of our city government lives on Embarcadero.

Fixing up Embarcadero in a nice way would make a lot more sense than building a giant bridge from quiet Northeast Palo Alto to a tiny part of East Palo Alto.