Avoid school traffic

Q: My mother was driving by a very slow car on the freeway recently and said, “They must not read Mr. Roadshow about being a road boulder.” She actually quotes you very often.

Some recent columns addressed safety around schools. A great reminder for students and parents is that everything moves slower as the school year starts, so leave 10 minutes early to give yourself plenty of time. Parents, please don’t block the drop-off lane or intersection to watch your darling walk all the way into the classroom. Children are capable of walking, so you don’t all have to stop exactly in front of the school. Often, it is faster to let kids walk the last block to school. Many of us walked many blocks as children and were healthier for it. Instead of doing an illegal U-turn, drop your kid off a block early and drive legally.

Thanks for making the roads safer!

Julie Ludwig, Sunnyvale

A: Thanks for these reminders.

Q: I read your columns on safety around schools with considerable interest because I live across the street from an elementary school. I have often seen parents’ dangerous driving, bike riding on the wrong side of the street, and other mistakes.

One recent day, I saw two cyclists, one child and one adult, ignore a red traffic light. I saw two adult cyclists leave the bike lane to ride on the sidewalk, where drivers are less likely to notice them until it is too late. I also saw a young man riding a powered scooter on the street suddenly switch to the sidewalk. I wondered where powered scooters are supposed to operate, as neither street nor sidewalk seemed safe to me.

Thanks for your efforts to improve the safety of traveling.

Bill Hilton, Sunnyvale

A: Thanks for your observations as an elementary school neighbor. As for e-scooters, in Sunnyvale and other cities, they must be ridden in the street. See the City of Sunnyvale’s website for rules around scooters. San Jose has its own rules posted online, too.

Q: What’s happening on Blossom Hill Road, between Blossom Avenue and Cahalan? Work has been going on for weeks.

Carolyn Thomas

A: That section of Blossom Hill is being resurfaced, part of San Jose’s annual pavement maintenance program. The top 1-3 inches of roadway is being scraped off and replaced with new asphalt, which is then rolled flat and smooth. It will be like new when complete. This takes more time than sealing a fair condition street with a top coat of asphalt slurry, but Colin-the-city-spokesman said, “Most people think the results are worth the wait.”

The status of San Jose pavement projects is available on the city’s website.

Look for Gary Richards at facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at [email protected].

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