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Parents and residents urge immediate fixes after student struck at Carolyn crossing; police give crash statistics
Summary
A resident told the commission his son was struck Dec. 10 at the Carolyn crossing and is recovering; commissioners and staff discussed near-term visibility fixes, enforcement, and longer-term safety projects. The police reported 19 December crashes, including three bike and one pedestrian collision.
Two residents urged the Burlingame Traffic Safety and Parking Commission on Jan. 8 to prioritize near-term safety fixes at local crosswalks, and the police presented recent crash data that underscores those concerns.
Kirby Alman, a Cypress Avenue resident and frequent pedestrian, said he has had multiple close calls at crosswalks in recent months and recommended clearer feedback from public surveys, longer painted curb no-parking zones near intersections, trimmed sightlines, and physical crossing posts like those used at Chaffee and Primrose. "If we had some more of those, that would really help," he said.
Later in the meeting, resident Mr. Velesco gave a detailed public comment about his son’s Dec. 10 collision at the Carolyn crossing, saying he arrived on scene and accompanied his son to Stanford for treatment. He asked the commission to consider trimming bushes, adding advanced stop/limit lines so drivers stop earlier, installing state-law "yield to pedestrians" signs, and exploring signal upgrades beyond the current flashing yellow. "I beg you, please, before somebody else gets hit at that intersection," he said.
Police Sergeant Miller Loft delivered the department’s December summary: 19 total crashes (13 vehicle–vehicle, three vehicle–bicycle, one vehicle–pedestrian), 13 minor injuries and one major injury. The sergeant identified common collision factors in December as right-of-way violations, unsafe lane changes or turning movements, and unsafe speed; two red-light violations were noted. He said the traffic unit is training an additional officer expected to staff the unit in March to improve enforcement capacity.
Commissioners asked staff and police clarifying questions about specific collisions (Caroline/Morell and Lorton/Howard), e-bike involvement and citation practices after crashes. Sergeant Loft said reports are developed after the fact and that e-bikes are subject to citation for moving violations when the evidence supports it. Commissioners also discussed interim engineering measures such as trimming sightlines, painting advanced limit lines, and adding temporary physical protections near crosswalks while longer-term projects advance through planning.
No formal action was taken at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to consider public suggestions and to show commissioners the site and detour maps as appropriate. The commission also emphasized tying corridor planning and future projects back to Vision Zero priority locations.
