On the morning of Oct. 29, senior Julius Zhou was biking to school along Camino Rico when the driver of a Toyota RAV4 — not seeing him — turned left out of Saratoga Vista Court and crashed into his bike.
Luckily, Zhou was largely unhurt, and the driver stopped to take care of the accident before leaving, but the experience underscored the many dangers bikers face each morning on their way to school or work.
“It was very minor injuries,” Zhou said. “It was mostly little scrapes and bruises on the right side of my body.”
Fortunately, it was also not necessary for Zhou to go to the hospital, and he came to school later that day. However, his bike was damaged and the driver’s car was dented.
His experience with the crash has prompted him to become more careful around cars, especially when he is biking or walking.
“Now I’ll just always assume they won’t stop for me and wait for them to pass or stop all the way,” Zhou said.
He also reflected on the intersection the accident occurred at, stating that untrimmed bushes there block much of drivers’ field of view and cause a dangerous situation.
According to Swanson Insurance Brokers, in 2020, there were 142 auto collisions in Saratoga. Additionally, according to law firm Karlin & Karlin, over 250,000 car accidents occur in California per year.
The frequency of car accidents is experientially evident for Zhou’s family, as his father also had a car crash over the summer by Glen Brae Drive.
Following his accident, the younger Zhou is glad that nothing major happened because the driver was going at a slow speed.
As a biker, Zhou said he appreciates the importance of safe driving.
“I’m overall just thankful she was driving slow. I’d stress the importance of checking your corners thoroughly as a driver, especially in residential areas,” Zhou said.
