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SRVHS accident prompts town to act
Flashing beacons will be installed at crosswalk

by Casey Reivich

The town of Danville has moved up plans to install flashing beacons in front of San Ramon Valley High School after a 14-year-old student was hit by a car a month ago at the crosswalk of Danville Boulevard and La Gonda Way.

She was riding her bike at 4:47 p.m. across the busy street when she was hit by a 25-year-old female driver in a Mercury Sable, police said.

"In the police report, the student said she thought she could make it across the road even though she saw a car coming," said Sgt. Ron Bradley of the Danville Police Department. "The driver saw movement on her right. She saw the other party on the bicycle. She steered to her right. She tried to get around the bicycle, but the left side still hit her."

An ambulance, police and a fire truck arrived at the scene. The student was taken to the hospital and sustained abrasions to the back and shoulder, a bruise to the elbow, and pain in the right ankle and the shin, said Bradley.

The accident brought a couple of things to light. Although the student on the bicycle had the right of way, she should not have been riding her bicycle across the street. She should have gotten off and walked it across the street or operated it as a vehicle, said Bradley.

The accident has also prompted the town of Danville to install flashing beacons at the crosswalk sooner than it had planned, said Nazanin Shakerin, transportation engineer for Danville.

The flashing beacons were already part of the town's 2005-06 capital improvement plans but the accident bumped up their installation, said Shakerin. The town has ordered the beacons and expects to install them in two months.

"We were going to do this anyway. It was just a matter of time," said Shakerin. "After the incident, we got calls from the high school to see if we could expedite the project."

Accidents have been rare at the crosswalk but the town felt because it crossed a major thoroughfare and was near a high school, flashing beacons would be appropriate, said Shakerin.

Shakerin believes traffic in that area can be problematic because as drivers enter town from Alamo the speed limit drops from 35 mph to 25 mph.

"It's really a matter of inattention," said Shakerin. "Drivers are distracted on their phones or just zoned out. This driver was zoned out. It was in daylight. She wasn't paying attention."

The flashing beacons work on a timed program, they will not be user-activated. In the future, however, the town hopes to add the user-activation feature.

Posts will be mounted on the sides of the road with two heads flashing yellow lights alternatively. There will also be signs, said Shakerin.

"This is not a lighted crosswalk," added Shakerin. "It is above ground."

The beacons will flash at the busiest times of the day. They will be on during the morning commute from 7-9:30 a.m., school pickup times, and perhaps even midday to allow for lunchtime traffic, said Shakerin.