But LASD thinks that it is safe for children to have to cross El Camino to get to school.

Its very dangerous to cross street at night.

"But LASD thinks that it is safe for children to have to cross El Camino to get to school."

Please. Do you REALLY think running across ECR, mid-block and at night is equal to crossing ECR at a signaled light on the pedestrian green?

Don't turn every story into a totally different story that you want to comment on. Generations of kids have crossed ECR to go to schools in MV for decades.

I went to Office Depot around 8:30 pm on Saturday night and saw the lights further down the road. How sad this must be for her family. But it doesn't prove that El Camino Real is a busy street all day and night, not suitable for kids to be crossing.

The report states that she attempted to cross El Camino at the Palo Alto Ave intersection. There does not need to be a painted crosswalk to be considered a crosswalk. It is called an unmarked crosswalk and the driver is obligated to yield to the pedestrian, just as if it was painted. That is the law.

While this was a bit after sunset, there was still plenty of light. If the driver was paying attention to the road ahead, there should be no reason why they couldn't stop before hitting this poor woman. Very sad.

@she used a crosswalk - you don’t know the details so why are you placing blame on the driver? She was hit 45 min after sunset so it was dark. Was she wearing dark clothes? How long before she was hit did she enter the street (i.e. did she step right in front of the car leaving the driver no time to stop?). As a pedestrian, if you choose to cross busy El Camino at an unmarked intersection, especially after dark, it would be wise to wait until traffic is clear. If not you risk losing your life.

Many of these painted crosswalks in between San Antonio Road and Page Mill Road are a real danger for any pedestrians and for car drivers. I understand that vehicles are supposed to stop if there is a pedestrian in the cross walks but in reality that is not the truth. Many cars are tailgating others. Even if some driver plans to stop, the driver behind always changes lanes to the right or left and speed. Many drivers don't have the common sense and courtesy to slow down and check whether the driver in front of him stopped for a pedestrian. On an another issue, I see so many rude drivers not stopping behind the first white line when there is a red signal and they block the cross walk and make it dangerous for pedestrians. I wish cops would ticket these drivers and teach drivers that safety of everyone should be the first priority. In our current society, that doesn't seem like a concern at all.

Like it or not, distracted driving has been steeply increasing every year for the past 10 years. Really not a coincidence that the 10th anniversary iphone was recently released. Most victims of car vs pedestrian collisions are older people who grew up when car drivers were more responsible. Times have changed. Cities have actually been decreasing funding for traffic safety police and changing intersections so they are less slower and less safe for pedestrians.

Scary article in the Mercury-News this week about distracted driving: Web Link

'I am not a lawyer', but it appears there is no unmarked crossing across ECR here, because there are no sidewalks across the ECR boulevard divider at this intersection, and no vehicle crossing either, only dirt, bushes, and trees. Unless something has changed since Google Maps last took a Street View at that spot (Web Link Also, the vehicle code prohibits pedestrian crossing between traffic lights except at crosswalks (veh code cit 21955). 'Crosswalk' as defined at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov:
"275. “Crosswalk” is either: (a) That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles, except the prolongation of such lines from an alley across a street. (b) Any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface."

Was the pedestrian using a crosswalk? There are two types: marked and unmarked. They both give right-of-way to the pedestrian. Automobiles are required to yield. This was clearly not marked, so there are two questions to ask to determine if it qualifies as an unmarked crosswalk:

1. Was the pedestrian crossing the road at an intersection?
Answer: Yes, it was a T-intersection.

2. Was there a sign prohibiting pedestrians from crossing?
Answer: No, there was no sign.

As long as the answer to #1 is Yes and #2 is No, then it qualifies as an unmarked crosswalk. She was NOT jaywalking—she had the right-of-way over the automobile. This is all straightforward and understandable California State law.

There's no intersection there between Palo Alto Ave and the other side of El Camino Real, for vehicles or for pedestrians. There's a divider in between, and no walkway on the divider, except for informal dirt paths. If there were sidewalks across the divider, maybe you could say there's a crosswalk: "That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles."
Usually the Voice has follow-up articles on such incidents, and we can see how the police or prosecutor's office interpret the incident by whether they press charges or not.

Some Town Square posters don’t seem to understand what a road or an intersection is. That’s fine. There are remedial driving safety courses that can be taken.

It doesn’t matter if there are sidewalks or not. If that was a requirement, then pedestrians in the Los Altos neighborhoods wouldn’t get very far, since they don’t have many sidewalks there. The pedestrian that was killed by the automobile crossed the road at an intersection and there was no sign banning such. If it was in between intersections and no crosswalk was marked, then it would be jaywalking.

Not sure why this is difficult to understand. Drivers need to slow down and pay attention, especially at intersections.

It has become a real problem, especially at dusk, with cars going to fast, not stopping at stop signs, and rushing through intersections on Old Mountain View. We only hear about the fatalities, and not all the near misses which are daily occurrence. Drivers need to slow down, and be more attentive!