Police are investigating a collision that occurred Monday night in Palo Alto, where an adult female bicyclist was struck and killed. While the driver of the first vehicle that struck the cyclist remained at the scene, the drivers of two additional vehicles that also hit the cyclist once she was down in the roadway did not stop. The investigation is active and continuing.
On Monday, February 19, 2024, at about 9:06 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting a major injury collision that had just occurred at the intersection of Embarcadero Road and Newell Road. Officers and personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department responded immediately and located a woman in her twenties unconscious in the roadway. Despite life-saving efforts, Fire Department personnel pronounced the woman deceased at the scene.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the woman had been stopped astride her bicycle in the number one lane of eastbound Embarcadero Road at the crosswalk at Newell Road. Police believe it is possible she may have been waiting for a green arrow to turn left onto northbound Newell Road. The cyclist was struck from behind by a blue 2023 Honda Accord traveling eastbound in the number one lane of Embarcadero Road on a green signal. It was lightly raining at the time of the collision.
The force of the initial collision knocked the cyclist into the intersection, where, according to witnesses, she was then struck by two additional eastbound vehicles. Neither of those vehicles stopped and continued traveling eastbound. Detectives have identified four vehicles that were eastbound at the same time and are actively conducting follow-up investigation on those vehicles and their drivers to see which two struck the woman. No information on those vehicles is available for release at this time.
The driver of the Accord, an adult male in his teens, remained at the scene and cooperated with police. The Accord was equipped with a dash-cam that captured the initial collision in its entirety. Neither drugs nor alcohol appear to be factor in the initial collision.
Personnel from the Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team responded to the scene to continue the investigation, as did detectives. The cause remains under investigation.
Police are asking that anyone who may have witnessed the collision contact our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
Police are not releasing the cyclist’s identity; that information can be obtained from the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner.
