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A Google employee died Monday evening after she was struck by a Google bus near the company’s North Bayshore headquarters, according to police.
The woman, identified Wednesday by a Google spokeswoman as Emily Hong, was struck by the bus around 6:46 p.m. at the intersection of Charleston Road and Huff Avenue. The Mountain View Police Department initially reported that she was “seriously injured,” but she was later pronounced dead at the scene.
“We are devastated to learn of the tragic passing of a member of our Googler family,” said spokeswoman Gina Scigliano in a statement. “Emily worked in the finance organization and was beloved by her colleagues — she brought an incredible spark to Google. She was inquisitive, creative, analytical, positive, generous and kind — our deepest condolences are with her family and friends.”
Police released a statement Tuesday evening stating that officers found a woman in her mid-20s lying in the roadway, and that they had tried to perform CPR.
The roadway was closed around 7 p.m. Monday evening, for an investigation into the fatal collision, and was reopened shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.
The bus driver was cooperative and remained at the scene, and drugs and alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the collision, Nelson said.
Police are not releasing additional details about the nature of the crash, pending an investigation.
The crash is the first fatal collision reported on city streets so far this year, although a driver was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 101 in Mountain View in March. The last collision involving a Google bus was on Dec. 27 last year, when a motorcyclist struck a Google bus at North Shoreline Boulevard and Plymouth Street and was killed.
City traffic data going back to January 2017 shows there was only one other reported collision at the intersection of Charleston Road and Huff Avenue, on Oct. 13, 2017. The crash occurred during morning commute hours shortly before 8 a.m., and was also a case where a vehicle struck and injured a pedestrian.
Anyone who witnessed the collision is encouraged to provide information to police by contacting Officer Kevin Solomon at kevin.solomon@mountainview.gov.
Rest in peace. The first week after Daylight Saving Time ends is really rough on pedestrians and bicyclists. Car drivers are not used to driving home in the dark and are often confused and/or have difficulty paying attention to the road. Be extra careful out there.
Drivers, please do not drive like you own the road, I should include bicyclists too. Last night, monday, I saw people racing around to get home. This should not be happening. You may save a few extra minutes, if that, but it’s not worth the life of another. I have no sympathy for careless drivers. If we want to better our community, it starts with ourselves. Start with making a complete stop at stop signs and red lights when you turn right, even if no one is around to make it habbit. Don’t become another statistic.
How do we know that a driver was careless? Let’s not assume. It’s a tragedy that a person died, but I used to commute up there quite a bit on my bike, and I saw my share of good drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, and also my share of terrible drivers, aggressive cyclists, and oblivious pedestrians.
Daylight savings time definitely makes things more dangerous, as the busiest evening commute is now in the dark.
Please do not blame this tragic accident on daylight savings. People behind the wheel with a drivers license should be able to drive during the day or at night. Period.
I’m not blaming it on DST. It’s just that I noticed a lot of people being a lot more scatter brained right when it changed. It doesn’t excuse not paying attention, but it makes it more likely that people were off their game. Humans are fallible creatures, subject to the environment, and changes make them lose focus.
Just observations from my daily commute, to and from work.
A majority of these Google bus drivers drive like everyone else.
They speed, they cut people off, they’re careless, and drive like they are in their own car.
I’ve seen Google buses go 70+ mph in the commuter lane on 101 on a daily basis.
Condolences to the woman’s family. May she rest in peace.
@Resident #2, my initial comment was not an intent to put blame on the drive, it was a general comment. But lets say it was, while driving you have 1 job, to drive. Your eyes should always be scanning the road and your mirrors. This accident happened in an intersection, so unless the victim magically appeared in front of the bus, the driver should have seen the victim approaching the vehicles route. And if you can not see crosswalks because of an obstruction, slow down until you pass the obstruction.
@William,
I agree, Google should do more for pedestrian and cycling safety in that area. The intersection that baffles me is Permenete Creek Trial Creek dead-ending at Amphitheater Parkway. It should go under the Parkway. I’ve been told it’s in the works, but it’s taking too long. In the meantime cyclists end up doing some squirrelly things to access the trail in the direction of 101.
This is frustrating, especially as local road improvements could be done for pocket change to one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Why not blame DST? Same as last year, and the year before, the month or so after we roll back clocks, there is a huge increase in people driving without lights during rush hour.
Drivers making the right turn are often looking only to the left, checking for the oncoming traffic, and forget to look right where pedestrians also may cross the road. I walk every evening and almost got hit many times by cars making right turn or exiting from the parking. And in the dark you cannot check if driver sees you by looking at his face. Please stop before the crosswalk and do not forget to look right! When I drive, I do it all the time, it is not that hard to develop this habit.
Will never forget riding my bike on Charleston – Google – in the bike lane, and having to swerve into the car lane to avoid colliding with a Google employee, riding a Google bike, on the wrong side of the street, with a dog on a leash. And no helmet.
Mountain View Police barely enforce traffic violations outside of the Googleplex. Google polices itself.
Very saddened to hear of this tragedy. RIP Ms. Hong.
I’m saddened to hear this news and offer my sympathies to Ms. Hong’s family and friends.
As a 30 year bike commuter, I have to worry about inattentive drivers, other cyclists who don’t follow traffic rules and distracted pedestrians who walk into the road without looking. It is especially hard to see those who bike or walk without safety lights and reflective clothing at night.
Let’s all be more careful,slow down and look out for each other!!
I will make a comment as I think this is particularly relevant for a Google discussion.
The Bus was a Google bus. The victim was a Google employee. Whether the end of DST was a factor, 6.45 would have been dusk without it. It is important these dark evenings to be even more careful when on the road, that goes for pedestrians and vehicle drivers – including bus drivers.
What we do have to ask though if one of those other Google factors had been involved, the Waymo cars. A Google car is presumably not affected by dark evenings or pedestrians wearing dark clothes or not paying enough attention as they cross the street. Should Google therefore be doing a little more effort into road safety for their employees, their drivers as well as their Waymos? They are after all in a position to have their voice heard.
My sincere condolences to Ms. Hong’s family and friends. I am sure she was a wonderful human being with hopes and dreams.
Google: get your act together! Hire drivers that actually know how to drive. Enough is enough. Mountain View is sick and tired of your buses that think they are above the law. Google killed a Google employee…it doesn’t get any worse than this.
We do not know what exactly happen. We do not know how it happen. So let us not speculate about who if anybody was careless. We do not know anything about the accident except that a lovely young woman lost her life. We can, of course, comment on our experiences personal and collective.
Having said that it is true that dusk at whatever time it happens confuses people’s physical perceptions but that’s inevitable because dusk will happen independently of DST.
It’s also true that there are of good drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, and also terrible drivers, aggressive cyclists, and oblivious pedestrians as Resident says.. There is also the fact that Google employees/bus drivers are on Campus and human beings tend to be less alert in familiar territory.
There are accidents in which a combination of circumstances leads to tragedy without anybody at fault or with someone or several people at fault in various degrees. As we wait for the police report we can talk about ways to improve traffic and reduce accidents.
Making things even worse, in the last few years as the impatience of drivers has increased, I see this situation all the time:
1) Light is green for me
2) I’m waiting for pedestrians to cross before making my right turn
3) Jerks behind me honk because I’m not going on a green light.
These jerks think the world revolves around them and each second of their time is worth millions. Also they think if someone is not moving when the light is a green that person must be an idiot. Ironic since the honkers are the actual idiots.
It appears that another Google bus was involved in an accident on 101 this evening. Major accident with bus involved could be seen from Bayshore in Palo Alto. All bus riders were standing around outside the bus.
Sad to hear.
Just a reminder for everyone else.
BIKES need a light on the front and rear. Google only puts them on the front!
Now we have scooters and skate boards and electric power making them 3X faster. They definitely need lights and helmets.
Pedestrian might say can’t you see me? NO you are wearing a black jacket and dark pants. It may be in fashion but it makes you invisible to a large vehicle trying to maneuver with multiple cars around and narrow roads. Another complaint are the Uber drivers and those U turns and stops they make at corner intersections.
“Just a reminder for everyone else.”
Its remarkable how much advice people have for the other guy.
You forgot the part where drivers need to slow down and be alert and ready to brake at any time to avoid collisions.
I guess it was a reminder for almost everyone else.
Just a reminder for you, “black jacket and dark pants” should not prevent you from slowing down and stopping before the crosswalk.
LOL!!! You forgot to add “Get outta my way!”
Check yourself b4 you wreck yourself citizen advise giver.
Actually, no, a rear light is not mandatory.
The intersection where this sad event happened concerns me, because it is in an arterial place. That is, close to the freeway onramps where vehicles are in a hurry to get on and come up to freeway speeds. Had this happened at say Middlefield and Whisman I’d be all about crosswalks, controlled intersections, and clearly painted lines.
But this was right next to a freeway on-ramp; where I personally would be very super careful about crossing. For sure you wouldn’t catch me looking at my phone to text, call, read, or check where my Lyft driver is.
Unfortunately, this incident raises my persistent concern.
I do believe that in order to make roads safer while ensuring good flow of traffic, we need more car-devoted roads to alleviate the vehicle pressure from shared-road.
So far, our solution has been to throw in road diets, stop signs, and crosswalks, which only makes traffic slower, make drivers more antsy, and make cyclists and pedestrians more brazen.
As a part-time bicycle commuter, I feel safer on bike boulevards and trails, knowing that there are highway-speed auto roads not far from where I am pedaling. (Eg. the Montecito bike boulevard runs nearly parallel to Central Expressway, etc). The cars can go to their faster-flowing roads and leave me in safety.
I love the pedestrian bridges and trails for both their scenic beauty and the measure of safety which it affords me.
As we build out the city, I hope we design and build more of these kinds of things.
In my 15 years living in the area, I’ve noted a marked deterioration in the unsafe ways people drive, with no repercussions. Police are not visible, and I’ve seen many instances of driving violations when they are present. It’s all about human behavior, and not more engineering controls or time of day.
There is so much pedestrian and bicycle traffic meandering distractedly across the streets in the N Bayshore Google campus (particularly Charleston near Shoreline) that it’s a wonder that more techies don’t get run down by vehicles that are trying to avoid them during their oblivious street crossings. Google needs to figure out a way to get pedestrian and bicycle traffic off of the streets — like building underpasses and at-level barriers at corners and at popular crossings between corners. Motor vehicles don’t mix well with pedestrians, and particularly not with bicycles — which don’t mix at all with either alternative.
The most dangerous part about biking around are the Google employees driving in the wrong direction (over a double yellow) which includes their buses and the Google employees riding the Google-owned bikes with complete disregard for the law. When asked at a public forum 2 years ago about how much training they provide their employees on how to ride a bike legally and safely, the answer was a “none.” It’s not the car that’s dangerous. It’s not the bike that is dangerous. It is the person who implements that form of transportation.
I noticed the article was updated. There was also a piece on this sad incident in Gizmodo.
With the new details released, I suddenly wonder if the unfortunate person was staring into their phone and blindly stepping into the street. It would be even more sad an event if so.
Please be careful when on the streets. Having our attention in our phones and devices is more dangerous than we might realize. Even when we’re not behind the wheel.
Very sad news. At some point, we should consider if these double height buses are simply too big for some of our streets and everyone’s safety.