Mallika Sankaran

I want to create a new request for more enforcement and education of drivers on Valparaiso at school hours. Few different factors make the road dangerous at this time: 1) Vehicles going way too fast 2) Vehicles regularly ignoring the "don't Pass in Bike Lane signs (these are ineffective) and swerving into bike lanes 3) The quality of the sunlight and shadows that may be reduces visibility of bikers, 4) large SUVs barreling into the bike lane because they think they see a clear path ahead and missed seeing the little kid on a bike below their visibility. We just witnessed a car making a left turn on to Emilie too fast to avoid hitting the bicyclist that emerged from the shadows - he landed on the ground and luckily did not seem badly injured. We live on Valparaiso and have often had cars whizz past us as they swing into the bike lane when we are getting into our car in the morning when it is on the street. Given the number of kids and people on bikes - perhaps its ok to consider reducing the speed limit on Valparaiso? I have noted that in Palo Alto and RWC our neighbors - all the key arterial roads that go through residential areas are at 25 mph. Why is Valparaiso special? A friend of mine - a teacher at oe of the schools on the street, rides her bike from Fremont every day. She says that the scariest part of her commute is when she enters Valparaiso Avenue! Please do something more permanent to mitigate the situation and avoid an even sadder accident than what I just witnessed. Thank you for your service to our community. I am sure it is not easy to manage a street like ours with a lot of non-residents in a rush to drop their kids off or pick their kids up. Perhaps the schools can send a note out to their communities. If you'd like a community volunteer on this, I am happy to hep talk to the schools, hand out notices to passing cars on a Safety Day...