San Jose

GJEL sponsors the Drink and Alive Free Cab Ride program so the people in our community don’t have to choose between being safe and having fun.

Last week we looked at the Dangerous by Design report. One of the useful features is the map tool, which overlays the locations of every pedestrian fatality in the country on Google Maps. This tool brings the challenges of street safety to life in every community across the country, and allows us to pinpoint the…

The seemingly unending war between motorists and cyclists had a bit more fuel thrown on the fire this week thanks to some vocal San Jose residents objecting to plans that would make the city more bike friendly. According to a recent article from Mercury News, residents of Hedding Street are opposed to the city’s plan…

Last week, after a lengthy investigation, prosecutors determined that 91-year-old Leona Morante Fernandez would not face criminal charges for a June 25th accident in which she drove her car through the wall of a nursing home, killing two and injuring four. The accident occurred when Fernandez inadvertently accelerated into the rec room of the Amberwood…

Whether you drive a car or ride a bike, there’s no question that street safety must improve here in California. In 2009, for example, nearly 1,300 people were killed in car accidents and 100 were killed in bicycle accidents here in California alone. According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, California mourns more than 3,000 traffic deaths each year if you add pedestrians and motorcycles to the mix. Fortunately, reports the San Jose Mercury News, that could all change thanks to a series of street makeovers throughout the Bay Area.

We’ve all had moments where it feels like the traffic light will never change to green. Many intersections have sensors underneath the concrete that alert the traffic light when to let cars through. But what happens when your preferred mode of transportation isn’t heavy enough to trip the sensor? That’s the problem for bicycle and motorcycle riders who are too often stranded at intersections, unable to change the light. That could finally change, thanks to a pilot program in San Jose that could lead to more advanced traffic light technology that will sense the presence of a motorcycle, or even a bicycle.

As Bay Area news organizations and concerned residents continue to parse the information provided in The Bay Citizen’s fascinating bike accident tracker, the communities most vulnerable to bike injuries become more apparent. Last week, we wrote that the percentage of cyclists involved in bike accidents is nearly three times higher in Contra Costa County than in San Francisco County. In an even more troubling statistic, teenagers are the most likely to be killed or injured in Bay Area bike accidents. And matters are especially dangerous for teens in San Jose and Oakland.