Residents living near Lincoln Avenue and Middlefield Road are petitioning the city of Palo Alto to do something about an intersection they say is dangerous for schoolchildren.

The intersection at Lincoln, just outside of Addison Elementary School, has been the scene of numerous car crashes, including a recent one in which a vehicle collided with the school's sign. City transportation officials said they are aware of the situation, but they aren't planning any changes to the intersection until the fall.

Palo Alto High School sophomore Coleman Yanagisawa has been so concerned, he's kept a count of the collisions and wrote to city officials to try to get their attention.

"Because of its proximity to Addison Elementary School, this intersection is extremely significant and must be fixed," he said in a letter to the Weekly.

Yanagisawa, a Boy Scout with Troop 5, is trying to make the intersection safer as a fulfillment of his Communication Merit Badge, which he needs to become an Eagle Scout, he said in a phone interview.

He has heard many of the crashes while in his home and has documented them for about a year, he said.

"It makes me scared that someone I might know might be in one of them," he said.

His research has stretched beyond the year, however. He discovered that at least 13 car collisions have happened at the intersection since Sept. 28, 2015. Nine took place during this school year alone, with six between Jan. 6 and April 19, he said.

The collisions have been happening during rush hours, which are also when kids go to and from school. The intersection is used by students biking to Palo Alto High School, he noted.

"These accidents have been occurring for as long as I can remember. However, they have usually been mild fender benders. Lately, they have been intensifying in severity," he said.

On Jan. 18, a car jumped the curb and hit the school's sign. On March 12, "at least two airbags were opened, and an ambulance as well as the fire department were called to assist one of the drivers who had hurt their neck," Yanagisawa said.

"There are probably many complex reasons to why this is occurring, but one thing is clear: The frequency of these accidents at this intersection has been increasing dangerously," he said.

The city made some minor changes to Middlefield last summer, narrowing a lane to slow traffic and painting speed limits on the road in reflective paint. But the repairs haven't improved safeety. Two collisions on April 19 involved three and four cars, he noted.

Mark Crady, another nearby resident, has also contacted the city.

"I live a half block away from the intersection. It is stunning how bad it is. Especially given how many school kids end up crossing there to Addison and to Paly," he said in an email.

Laura Sturino and her two children were struck by a mini van in December 2011 at the Lincoln and Middlefield intersection.

There were many cars parked along the road, heavy traffic on Middlefield and a steady stream of vehicles on Lincoln that were trying to cross Middlefield, she said in an email. She made sure to make eye contact with the driver at the stop sign on Lincoln, checked to see no one was coming from the other direction and began to cross, making sure the driver at the stop sign knew they were coming.

But another driver, a father who was dropping his children off at school was parked on Middlefield. He suddenly pulled out quickly to cross the Middlefield traffic and drove onto Lincoln, striking Sturino and her children, she said.

"I took the brunt of the hit. The boys miraculously were only scraped and in complete shock, but otherwise unhurt. We were taken to urgent care by neighbors who witnessed the accident. We mainly just suffered bruising. The bruising on my face was the worst of it. I stepped in front of the boys at the last minute, as I saw the minivan peripherally and was hit in the face by the hood of the minivan," she said.

"He never saw us until we were directly in front of him. The traffic on the street and the sunlight in the morning affected his visibility."

Sturino went to the police department to report the collision.

"I wanted there to be a record since I had seen countless close calls and wanted to make sure whoever was looking at the traffic knew what happened. We spoke to the city planner when they were considering making changes during the Safe Routes to Schools campaign at Addison that year, but he said that there wasn't much they could do," she said.

The city did make recent changes to Middlefield, including raising the center of the street, but they haven't helped, she added.

"From living on Middlefield, I can tell you the situation has gotten worse. There are more accidents and even more close calls. I don't believe a child or a pedestrian has been hit since my accident, but it's just a matter of time. I worry about what will happen when there is an increase of construction traffic to Addison Elementary starting this summer with the demolition and renovation of the Multipurpose room, etc.," she wrote.

Police department data indicate that officers took 19 collision reports at the intersection between Jan. 1, 2010 and May 22, 2018, according to Capt. Zach Perron. In almost all of the incidents, drivers on Lincoln pulled into Middlefield traffic and caused the collision, he stated in an email.

"While some of the collisions resulted in injury, those injuries were generally minor in nature. None were major-injury collisions," he said.

Craig Yanagisawa, Coleman's father, said police reports don't tell the entire story. In some cases, motorists exchanged insurance information but did not contact the police.

City Chief Transportation Official Joshuah Mello said in an email the city plans to address the Lincoln intersection.

"This intersection, as well as the intersection of Middlefield Road and Forest Avenue, are definitely on our radar. The latter was recently ranked as the highest collision intersection in the city," Mello said.

"We are currently working with residents in Crescent Park to address the regional traffic impacts on neighborhood streets, including Hamilton, Forest and Lincoln. Our goal is to implement a traffic-calming pilot project this fall that will aim to reduce both the speeds and volumes of traffic on local streets," he said.

In addition to Middlefield and Forest, four other intersections with Middlefield in north Palo Alto are on the city's list of top 10 most accident-prone locations, based on data from 2010 to 2016: Forest Avenue had nine collisions; Channing Avenue had six; University Avenue had six; Everett Avenue five; and Hawthorne Avenue five, according to the city's Traffic Safety and Operations 2017 Report.

The city worked on the Channing and Hawthorne intersections in 2017 and is continuing to do so this year.

Crady, a resident, said he found the city's data suspect, however. He noted that the city takes its data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) database, which is maintained by the California Highway Patrol.

"There are only eight accidents recorded at Lincoln and Middlefield in the SWITRS database over those five years. I see eight accidents per year where police are called to the scene," he said.

Coleman Yanagisawa said the city should add traffic signals at the Lincoln intersection.

"While this may be costly, it will prevent further accidents and injuries from happening," he said.