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A bicyclist was struck and killed at the intersection of Embarcadero Road and Newell Road on Monday night after she was hit by three different drivers, two of whom left the scene after the collision, Palo Alto police said.
The crash happed at about 9 p.m. on Feb. 19, according to a news release from the Palo Alto Police Department. The bicyclist, a woman in her 20s, reportedly stopped in the left lane of Embarcadero and police believe she was waiting for a green arrow so that she could turn north on Newell. She was struck from behind by the driver of a 2023 Honda Accord that was traveling eastbound in the left lane and had a green light.
Police said the force of the collision knocked the woman in the intersection, where witnesses reported she was struck by two additional eastbound vehicles. Drivers of both vehicles continued to drive eastbound after striking her.
When police and Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene, the woman was unconscious in the roadway. Despite life-saving efforts by Fire Department personnel, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office had not identified her as of Tuesday morning.
Police said the driver of the Accord, an adult male in his teens, remained at the scene and cooperated. Police said neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be a factor in the initial collision, which occurred at a time when it was lightly raining.
The Accord is equipped with a dash-cam that captured the initial collision in its entirety, according to the police. Palo Alto detectives have also identified four vehicles that were traveling eastbound at the time of the collision and are conducting a follow-up investigation to see which vehicles struck the woman.
The department’s Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team responded to the scene to investigate. Embarcadero was closed between Middlefield Road and Walnut Drive for more than three hours after the collision.
The Embarcadero accident was the second fatal collision involving a bicyclist in the Palo Alto area in less than a week. On Feb. 13, a bicyclist was killed after getting struck by a vehicle on on Foothill Expressway, south of Arastradero Road, according to the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff.
Police as asking anyone who may have witnessed the collision to call the department’s dispatch center at 650-329-2413 or send anonymous tips to paloalto@tipnow.org or 650-383-8984.
