Reduce the speed limit on Cañada Road
Andrew Hsu, a Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition board member, wrote this article for the San Mateo Daily Journal. An excerpt follows, including a link to the original article.
A tragic death of a beloved bicyclist last week on Cañada Road might have been avoided, and future tragedies also avoided, if the speed limit there was simply reduced by San Mateo County.
On the afternoon of Monday, April 10, bicyclist Lester Legarda was fatally struck by a driver on a Cañada Road, a rural route popular among walkers, equestrians and bicyclists. Details of the crash scene suggest that the collision speed was high. Though the cause of the collision is still under investigation, visibility along Cañada Road was excellent. The posted speed limit was 50 mph.
Given the dominance of cars in our culture, I am certain your immediate reaction focuses on blaming the bicyclist: Was he wearing a helmet? Did he wear bright, visible clothing? Was he riding along the shoulder? Was he a good bike handler? Not surprisingly, the answer to all this is “yes.” You see, Lester was a member of Peninsula Velo, a large club and community of competitive cyclists. Our team uniform and helmet (which Lester wore) are bright orange and yellow. What’s more, Lester was also riding with a Garmin Varia, a car-detecting radar with a rear-facing bright red light. As a competitive bike racer, Lester was comfortable handling his bike at high speeds among large packs of cyclists. He also abided by our club’s rules of road etiquette — always “be nice” and share the road with others. I have no doubt that Lester was as visible, protected and experienced as any cyclist can be, and following the rules of the road.
So then why did more than 500 cyclists, family and close friends gather on the following cloudy Saturday morning to honor the passing of Lester Legarda?