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An 80-year-old Mountain View man died shortly after noon Tuesday (July 20) from injuries he suffered after being struck in a hit-and-run crash Monday (July 19) at 7:40 p.m. in Mountain View, according to Mountain View police.
The victim, Manuel Enos, was hit by a Toyota Corolla as he walked in the pedestrian crosswalk at the corner of California and Franklin streets. The Corolla fled the scene, Mountain View police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said.
Police arrested Keibun Son, a 46-year-old Saratoga woman, on suspicion of felony hit-and-run just after 11 p.m. She was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of her arrest, Wylie said.
Police are encouraging anyone who witnessed the accident to call 650-903-6344.
7:40pm is still broad daylight. No excuse for this to happen, especially in a residential area where pedestrians are to be expected.
Rest in peace.
My sympathies to the victim’s family.
There is an acupuncturist named Keibun Son on California St. in Mountain View. If it is the same person, it is quite sad to think a trained healer would take off after hitting a pedestrian. At that time of day the sun is low and in the north-west sky. Maybe she just didn’t see him?
I think it’s possible she didn’t see him, but unlikely she didn’t know she had hit him.
This is so tragic.
This is tragic and disturbing. The realization that a person hit an elderly man and may have purposely fled the scene of the accident is shocking.
I suppose that this suspect could have hit the person without realizing that it was actually a PERSON, but I seriously doubt that they didn’t realize that they had hit something. After all, a “bump” is a “bump” and can be felt by any vehicle.
During grad school, I was riding as a passenger in a SUV when a small cat ran out in front of the vehicle. Even in a vehicle as large as that one, we “felt” the bump. We immediately stopped and realized that the cat lay dying. It was a terrible experience. We did what we could for the cat (even though it was a losing battle). We tried to locate the owner, and we even called the police. It turned out that it was probably a stray.
I just can’t imagine what would possess a person to leave the scene of an accident or a potential accident. Fear? Regret? Ignorance of an injury?
Since we moved to California and this area, we have experienced a little culture shock with the reckless driving. It seems like people are in such a rush that they don’t take the extra effort to be “aware” drivers. I am shocked by those who drive with reckless abandon…and the large percentage of drivers who seem to have no idea how to operate blinkers.
My condolences to the family of this man.
The victim, Manuel Enos, was hit by a Toyota Corolla as he walked in the pedestrian crosswalk at the corner of California and Franklin streets.
Essentially all crosswalks should be clearly identified, with flashing lights, bells & whistles.
Pedestrians have right of way.
Flashback to another incident where a pedestrian was hit in a marked crosswalk. The driver, an elderly woman, who should not have been driving to begin with, hits the victim, pauses momentarily, gets out of the car and looks over the victim, gets back in the car, runs over the victim, dragging the remains under the car for 50ft. Witnesses had to literally form a human barricade to get the driver to stop the car.
Guess what the driver’s punishment was? a simple revoked driver’s license, and a slap on the wrist.
These are insightful comments. I agree w/Mark the Crosswalks. It’s very easy when driving to forget that there are pedestrians who have the right of way. The lit and marked crosswalks are a big help, especially if a driver is multitasking. Not that we should, but we do. I see the spacey drivers, the drivers arguing w/their kids, the drivers talking to passengers, the drivers legally on cells, etc. I’m pretty careful, and I notice how my behavior switches when I go from freeway driving to neighborhood driving. Not everyone has that shift, and that’s frightening.
Condolences to the family of the victim. No one wants one of their elders to go this way.
HOW IN THE WORLD, could— “The driver, an elderly woman, who should not have been driving to begin with, hits the victim, pauses momentarily, gets out of the car and looks over the victim, gets back in the car, runs over the victim, dragging the remains under the car for 50ft. Witnesses had to literally form a human barricade to get the driver to stop the car.”
That slap on the wrist is an INSULT and not justice. Each person who does such a deadly deed needs to lose their license, take the car away and the keys, and have some house arrest, and a big fine. Family members should have known that the person should have never been driving!!
Healthcare practitioner? Don’t make me laugh! This gal showed NO REGARD for human decency, let alone health.
ALL crosswalks at intersection of Franklin and California streets are CLEARLY marked with broad white lines (check it out at Google maps.) The intersection is about TWO blocks from Keibun Son’s office. She would certainly have been familiar with the area. In order to get her driver’s license she would have to know that pedestrians have the right way in a marked crosswalk.
I call this felony leaving the scene of an accident, gross indifference to human life, and vehicular manslaughter. She needs to be sent to prison – for the sake of public safety.
Car drivers need to PAY ATTENTION! Stop speeding, chatting on your cell phone, listening to the ranters on Fox News, playing with your GPS, etc. You know there is a legal crosswalk at almost every street corner. You don’t need the nanny city to install bright blinking lights at every corner to remind you. Take responsibility for your driving. Yield for all pedestrians!
My heart goes out to the victim and his family too. As an avid walker, and one trying to leave my car in the driveway as much as possible, I can tell you that it’s SCARY walking around Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Atherton and Redwood City. People in vehicules are more often than not, downright rude and dangerous. Even when there are well-marked crosswalks, the general public’s desire to beat things and get ahead of everyone else, and perhaps their sense of urgency, makes life really unsafe for pedestrians…. even young ones. It’s the same trying to cross with traffic lights that say it’s your turn! What a tragedy.
The lack of respect (understanding) that the average drive downtown exhibits for pedestrians in the cross walks is abysmal. I love the MVPD but they are roundly neglecting enforcement of these incidents .
People, marking crosswalks beyond the standard white paint for major intersections is a huge waste of time and taxpayers money. Every driver clearly receives training indicating that pedestrians have the right of way, regardless of whether they are in the crosswalk. Ignorance is not an excuse. And as a driver, trying to displace responsibility from yourself by saying you need bells, whistles, and shining flashing lights to make up for your own distracted multitasking is out and out irresponsible.
What we need are reasonable standards before we give people a license to drive in the first place. Tests that actually examine one’s ability to drive with skill, common sense, and respect for the road would go a long way toward making our streets safer. As a bonus, I’m sure we’d see a dramatic reduction in traffic congestion…
In addition to drivers needing to stop multi-tasking, vehicle manufacturers need to be stopped from providing all the electronic gadgets that contribute to distracted driving. I’m not a knee-jerk fan of Big Government, but there does need to be a federal law that prohibits all those gadgets–instead, administrations of either main political party just pander to the auto lobby.
I would love for the cities in this area to start a campaign that reminded citizens to use good driving practices and to follow the law.
I live just off of Alma St., and I multitudes of drivers EVERY DAY who break the law. Many of these drivers speed (the speed limit is 35 mph, and it is routine to see drivers traveling at least 50 mph). In addition, drivers constantly talk on cell phones or send/read text messages while driving. Moreover, drivers don’t seem to know how to use their blinkers. Worse: I have seen drivers exhibiting all three bad and illegal habits at the same time!
I would love to see a billboard or sign on our roads/highways that says, “USE YOUR BLINKER STUPID.”
😛
saw cell phone driver nearly plow into smal truck. guy was talking as he drove thru stop sign. meanwhile ,cops are looking for pot smokers. you get what you put up with.
Unfortunately, crosswalks without traffic lights often put pedestrians in danger, because they (wrongly) assume a crosswalk offers safety. When I stopped for a woman with a stroller on Miramonte, another car came alongside me and speeded up through the crosswalk, nearly plowing into the mother and her child. I was horrified. I saw that driver later, delivering her own child to a karate lesson — yet she seemed to have no concern for another human life.
When I use that same crosswalk as a pedestrian, it’s clear to me that many people consider my life less valuable than the 15 seconds they might lose by slowing down and letting me cross safely.
As someone who walks, rides a bike and drives around Palo Alto, I can assure you that the sun gets into your eyes when it is low, morning and evening, and when there are shadows from trees or buildings particularly if someone is wearing dark clothing, it can be very hard to see a pedestrian or a bike if you are blinded momentarily. Crosswalks should be much better marked and flashing lights similar to those on Fabian should be much more commonplace.
Pedestrians do have the right of way if and only if they are already on a marked crosswalk when a car is crossing it. The pedestrian who is on a sidewalk and decides to step off the curb and into the marked crosswalk
has no right of way at all under those circumstancies. I see pedestrians doing this all the time and expecting drivers to be mind readers as to what their intentions are and then jumping suddenly into the crosswalk expecting the car to stop suddenly as if it were to be possible. I do not know the details of this accident and if the driver knowingly didn’t stop, then a criminal offense was committed. But I am not certain that drivers and pedestrians do their part to see and be seen and use the crosswalks in a reasonable and legal manner at all times. More education is needed.
“narnia” is wrong. A crosswalk does not have to be “marked” to be a legal crosswalk. Car drivers are required to yield to pedestrians in all legal crosswalks, marked or not. Car drivers should assume that every street corner is a legal crosswalk. Please read the drivers manual again.
A tragedy all around, but how many of you see pedestrians just step out into traffic in a crosswalk without looking left or right? When walking, I have a policy of looking into the eyes of a driver coming at me or parked before I take a step. Make visual contact with them. It could save your life.
The gentleman WAS 80 years old! He was still healthy enough to walk around town all alone. I’m positive that he did not take care of himself, eat right, live right to live this long to get RUN DOWN by some “poor woman” that was in a darn rush! Some of these posts make it sound like this man deserved dying in this fashion. He was following the law! Crosswalks are painted on the streets for a reason. Common sense says slow down when passing. Not run over people, then take off and play stupid for sympathy!
If this were your 80-year old family member, you wouldn’t be helping her come up with excuses. Of course depending on her background, there is automatic sympathy for any killer (depending on their background), normal, since the beginning of time. It just still always surprises me, because I know for a fact, if I had run over the gentleman (I’m from East Palo Alto) even before the facts were out, there would be a lynching party waiting for me after I’d been caught on America’s Most Wanted. We just get tired of seeing that double-standard sh*t!
Pedestrians have to be in control of their own safety. It is foolish to step into a crosswalk without looking to see if a car is coming. Cars take a long time to stop, pedestrians can stop quickly. If you are walking around the streets, take off your ipod, don’t use your cell phone, and pay attention when crossing the street. Cars and bikes just may not see you or may not be able to stop in time.
South of Midtown,
What I said is correct. The definition of what is a legal marked crosswalk is what you are disputing. Please read the law.
I’ll repeat. Pedestrians have a right of way on any legal crosswalk if and only if they are already on it when a car is approaching. Stepping suddenly onto the crosswalk doesn’t give a pedestrian any rights at all It’s rather stupid because the driver and the car can’t react that fast.. Unless traffic moves at 5miles/hour that’s a recipe for disaster and presents an impossibility to the driver.
Of course, hit and running is still wrong and criminal.