Police are completing their investigation into the February 19 fatal collision involving a cyclist and plan to send the case to the District Attorney’s Office for review for any appropriate criminal charges.
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 (driven by an adult male in his teens) 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 initial statements from witnesses the night of the collision, she was then struck by two additional eastbound vehicles. Neither of those vehicles stopped. Police distributed a news release about the collision on February 20.
The ensuing follow-up work by investigators revealed that the vehicle that was initially thought to have struck the cyclist second actually did not, as the driver was able to swerve to avoid a collision. After that, another eastbound vehicle (a blue 2014 Hyundai Sonata driven by a male in his twenties) in the number one lane struck the cyclist, though its driver later told police he knew he had struck some sort of debris in the roadway but had no idea it was a person. After seeing news reports, he proactively contacted police the day after the collision and provided a statement.
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; investigators have no evidence that they are a factor in the second collision either.
Officers will be sending the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for review for any appropriate criminal charges against either driver whose vehicle struck the cyclist. Police are not releasing the cyclist’s identity; that information can be obtained from the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 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.
