By: Eric de Guzman
If you are an MHS student, teacher, or administrator, you are without a doubt familiar with the infamous commute: the majority of family cars in Milpitas congested into one Escuela Parkway and the surrounding area in the morning and afternoons. It is a sorry situation loved by no one, and it certainly deserves further criticism, but I digress.
I believe those that bike to school have a much closer relationship with these automobiles, I daresay too close. Speaking from experience, the tribulations bikers have to struggle through on a daily basis are nothing less than life-threatening.
The most constant and most tiresome issue bikers face is automobilers’ apparent disregard for basic driving regulations. Drivers forget to use turn signals, and seem unaware of the existence of bike lanes, considering them parking or drop off spaces instead. This amalgam of bad habits results in bikers having to weave in and out of the bike lanes, and things can get hairy real quick.
Recently I had been biking to school one morning, and lo and behold, I found myself approaching a queue of cars in the bike lane leading into MHS. I moved between the bike lane and the main road, rode for a couple meters, and without warning a van door opened in front of me. Having collided with the door, my bike and I flew. Luckily, I made like a cat and landed on my feet, but it definitely could have been worse.
And for some, it was worse. Last year I conducted a feature story on, you guessed it, biking safety at MHS (which you can find on The Union website). A student biker said he had been hit by a car two times. A teacher recounted to me how she had been hit by a car while biking home. And while these people turned out fine in the end, one has to wonder what sort of accident it will take before any change takes place.
It is not entirely the drivers’ fault for the danger posed to those biking to school. This is a flaw in the very infrastructure of Milpitas: where would students be dropped off if not in the bike lanes? And having three schools’ worth of families drop off their kids at the same time on Escuela Parkway was bound to be both counterproductive and dangerous. Parents want their children to arrive to school on time, but the commute does them no favors. This leads to rushing, less care in driving, and, ultimately, the accidents previously described.
In spite of these problems, MUSD must find a way to ensure safety for its students on the road. There are a number of ways this can happen. The district must find a way to relieve congestion in the Escuela Parkway area, and the administration of the schools in the area must find a safer, more efficient way for drivers to drop off their children. Drivers in Milpitas must be reminded of the safety guidelines surrounding bike lanes and overall driving; if needed, further police presence should be implemented.
For the past few years I have biked down Escuela Parkway and have run into the same problems again and again. I have been frustrated and concerned about my safety and the safety of my friends; I’m sure others biking to school have felt the same. We are lucky that there have been no fatal accidents yet, but we cannot wait for a tragedy before we decide to improve. For the safety of MUSD’s students and staff, I implore the administration look into and deal with the problems discussed above.