|
Children may need to be taught to look both ways before crossing the street, but teenagers may need to be told not to dance in the street.
A 16-year-old girl on her way to school with a couple of female friends stepped off the curb into the bike lane and started dancing in the roadway at Curtner and Cottle avenues on June 1 at 7 a.m.
She then moved farther out on the road into the slow lane, where traffic was heading eastbound on Curtner Avenue. A small vehicle going 25 to 30 mph in a 35-mph zone struck the teenager and sent her airborne across the intersection onto the east curb, said San Jose Sgt. Mike Fehr. She sustained serious injuries, including a broken hip and leg, and was transported to Valley Medical Center, Fehr said.
"Some of the speeds on Curtner can pick up, so it could have been more serious or a fatality," Fehr said. "She's a very lucky young lady, especially at commute time."
To ameliorate the busy intersection a left-turn-only light from Curtner Avenue onto Cottle Avenue is being added.
Department of Transportation Division Manager of Neighborhood Services Laura Wells said the project was identified in late 2002 but was not funded until 2004. It is currently being installed.
She said the impetus for the change was the volume of traffic, crash history and pedestrian activity at the intersection.
"It's a common upgrade," Wells said.
|
