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On May 7, Dylan Taylor, paraeducator and athletic coach for Menlo Park and Atherton students, died after a collision on Middlefield Road with a GreenWaste truck while he was riding his bike. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Since then, the Atherton Police Department has said it will be focusing more on traffic enforcement involving bicycles, especially near the site of the crash.
“There’s now an emphasis on bicycle-related enforcement actions. It could be making sure cars aren’t pulling into the bicycle lane too early when they’re making a right turn. It’s also enforcement on bicyclists: making sure they’re not going too fast, making sure they have the proper safety equipment, making sure they’re following the rules of the road,” said Atherton police Cmdr. Dan Larsen.
Like all agencies, Atherton has limited resources and needs to choose where to distribute them. The town has 21 sworn police personnel, including one officer vacancy.
“When we say we’re increasing enforcement, it doesn’t mean we’re out there writing ticket after ticket,” Larsen said. “It’s more about increasing visibility and educating motorists and cyclists.”
“I told my kids when they were growing up ‘if you ever get hit by a car in the roadway, you’re at fault and if you get hit by a car, it’s going to hurt whether or not you have the right of way in a crosswalk.’ It’s still your responsibility to look for cars, make sure you make eye contact with a car and that they are going to stop,” said Atherton traffic Sgt. David Metzger, not referring to this specific collision. “According to the vehicle code, if they get hit by a car (in a crosswalk), it’s the driver’s fault. However, everybody owes a certain amount of self safety. You always have the ability to control your own self awareness and self protection.”
The Atherton Police Department is not the only agency that has been focusing on educating drivers and cyclists, the Menlo Park Police Department has also taken steps to address traffic safety. It is paying particular attention to juveniles riding electric bicycles – or more accurately, electric motorcycles.
On May 28, Menlo Park police stopped two juveniles riding electric motorcycles on Middle Avenue as part of an effort to crack down on e-bike violations. They were not cited since officers did not observe any reckless driving. Since the bikes were not legal, their parents were called to pick them up, according to police spokesperson Nicole Acker.
A week prior, however, Menlo Park police did impound an electric motorcycle after the rider almost crashed into an officer.
Atherton has seen the same issue with juveniles riding what they think are e-bikes, but are actually classified as electric motorcycles. Metzger said an officer is actively creating a guide to help explain to students and parents the different requirements.
“As somebody who has been in traffic enforcement for a long time, these new electric bicycles and the laws related to them can be quite confusing,” Metzger said.
Depending on the maximum speed and mechanism, an e-bike may require the rider to be at least 16, or may be illegal on public roadways. Menlo Park police have even warned about bikes that are sold legally, but can easily be modified to achieve higher top speeds.
Following Taylor’s death, Metzger said Atherton police will be more visible around Encinal School, near the fatal crash, and will be repositioning shifts.
Even with Atherton’s efforts, Metzger expects there will be a decrease in citations issued immediately after the accident while the investigation into Taylor’s death is ongoing. Metzger said he did not want to talk specifically about that fatal collision until the report is approved to avoid influencing witnesses’ memory of the collision. He spoke generally about how fatal collisions are handled.
“During the initial call, we shut down the roadway and collect information and physical evidence, along with witness statements,” Metzger said.
Metzger said police create a “factual diagram” which represents the scene of the collision as the officer found it and can require the roadway be closed for several hours. Metzger said police also take an initial and secondary statement from the driver and, if needed, test for the presence of drugs or alcohol.
In some cases, including this collision, police work with California Highway Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team. Metzger said even when working with CHP, the entire traffic team needs to be there to understand and interpret the findings. He remembered one collision where police needed to spend four days measuring the crash marks on a vehicle to determine the speed of the impact.
Metzger said the report on Taylor’s death is close to being finalized.
Atherton police plan to host more e-bike safety courses and release educational materials. Since the accident, Atherton Chief of Police Steven McCulley has released weekly news flashes focused on traffic safety. Atherton police also hosted an e-bike safety course on June 1 at Holbrook Palmer Park and plan to host another in August, potentially focused on high school students.
Re-victimizing the bicycling community after a loss is the sad norm of blame shifting; how many drivers have been ticketed for violating the 3-foot passing rule for cars to requiring moving over into an adjacent lane if possible. (CVC 21760(c)) or parking in the bike lane?
“…also enforcement on bicyclists: making sure they’re not going too fast, making sure they have the proper safety equipment, making sure they’re following the rules of the road,” said Atherton police Cmdr. Dan Larsen.
I also live in the Willows and I often see teenagers riding e-bikes and scooters without helmets, doing wheelies down the street as well as cutting in and out of traffic, speeding and going right through stop signs without a second thought. I’m glad to hear Menlo Park is going to be doing some enforcement and I hope they educate and when necessary cite individuals for this extremely unsafe behavior.
I”m glad to hear about the multi-faceted ways we are trying to ensure everyone’s safety on our roadways. Especially interesting about the e-motorcycles. I’ve wondered about those as they do travel quite a bit faster than the class 2 e-bike I ride.
Atherton Police Dept almost exclusively focused on property crime and are essentially non-existent when it comes to protecting cyclists and pedestrians. 25 year Atherton resident I’ve never seen an officer outside of their vehicle they are clueless what it’s like to ride a bike or walk your dog
I find it disturbing that Sgt. David Metzger and Chief of Police Steven McCullen are focusing on E-bikes when the real issue is being overlooked: a GreenWaste garbage truck struck and killed a young teacher biking to school around 7:30 a.m. This was not an E-bike, and there’s no evidence of erratic riding.
The conversation needs to shift. Have you seen the size and dilapidated condition of these garbage trucks lately? What safety features do they actually have? From what I’ve observed—and confirmed by speaking directly with a driver—these trucks have no side cameras, no proximity sensors, no warning lights on the mirrors, and only a rear-facing camera for trash collection. The only safety mechanisms equipped are three old-fashioned circular glass mirrors on each side of the vehicle. If modern cars are required to have basic safety technology, why aren’t we holding large industrial vehicles to the same—or higher—standards?
In California alone, there have been approximately 15 serious injuries or fatalities involving garbage trucks and pedestrians or cyclists over the past decade. GreenWaste holds a major contract with the City of Atherton, and these same vehicles continue to operate in our community, despite the obvious risks they are posing to our community.
This tragedy should be a wake-up call. Atherton and the City of San Mateo has an opportunity—and a responsibility—to lead by requiring that all service vehicles, especially those as large and hazardous as garbage trucks, be equipped with modern safety features: side-view cameras, motion sensors, and warning alerts. We must hold service providers accountable before another life is lost.
I completely agree with this comment. This tragedy was not about e-bikes, and if a garbage truck hits a bicycle rider in the bike lane, no part of this should be attributed to the bicycle rider’s “lack of self awareness or self protection.” These garbage trucks lurch through the streets without sufficient safety features as you say, and these tragedies are not uncommon in California and elsewhere. https://padailypost.com/2019/04/28/family-sues-3-cities-over-bicyclists-death/
E-bike safety and bicycle rider awareness are of course important, but not applicable to this case. It seems inappropriate and a bit offensive to put in relation to this case a focus on “enforcement on bicyclists: making sure they’re not going too fast, making sure they have the proper safety equipment, making sure they’re following the rules of the road” in relation to this tragedy, which was unrelated to all 3 of these elements and was completely related to a vulnerable cyclist riding to work in the bike lane wearing a helmet, struck by a garbage truck. In short, your comment was very well written and I couldn’t agree more..