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A vehicle struck a crossing guard on Thursday morning as students made their way to Valley View Elementary School in Pleasanton, according to a district spokesperson.
Pleasanton Unified School District director of communications Patrick Gannon told the Weekly that the collision, which occurred near Vineyard Avenue and Adams Way, did happen while students were being dropped off at the elementary school located a couple blocks from the incident.
“There was an accident, unfortunately, and a crossing guard was hit by a vehicle and transported to the hospital,” Gannon said. “There were unfortunately students and staff who witnessed.”
Gannon said that the crash was severe and that the district is working with the Pleasanton Police Department to investigate the incident. He also said counselors and social workers have and will continue to be available to students and staff at the school throughout the day.
PPD Lt. Erik Silacci later stated in a press release that the collision occurred at around 7:48 a.m. Thursday.
“Witnesses reported a midsize SUV struck a crossing guard who was assigned to that intersection. Officers rendered aid to the victim and he was transported to a local hospital with head injuries,” Silacci stated.
PPD Sgt. Marty Billdt told the Weekly that because it is an ongoing investigation, the department is not identifying the driver or the crossing guard. He did, however, confirm that the crossing guard is “in stable condition” at the hospital.
Silacci stated that the driver stayed at the scene of the incident and has been cooperating with police.
The circumstances of the collision remain under investigation. Alcohol, drugs and distracted driving did not appear to be factors in the crash, Silacci added.
“The city of Pleasanton and the Pleasanton Unified School District work in collaboration to ensure students and parents can safely walk, drive and bike to school, which includes traffic enforcement, community outreach and education and deployment of crossing guards at intersections near schools,” Silacci wrote. “The city of Pleasanton reminds drivers to exercise caution while driving on city streets, especially in school zones where increased pedestrian traffic is common.”
The roadways surrounding Vineyard Avenue and Adams Way in the area were closed for several hours amid the police investigation, reopening just after 1 p.m.
Cities needs to invest more on safe ways for kids to get to school.
For many kids their neighborhood schools are 1-2 miles which is within a 15 minute bike ride (most days of the year for us in California). There needs to be separated dedicated and safe bike lanes within a 1 – 2 mile radius of every school. Build this infrastructure and see how traffic and such incidents reduce.
Its a pure joy to see kids biking/walking to school through safe bike lanes or trails.
Perhaps the district should better place students in the schools in their neighborhoods. Kids in my neighborhood are assigned to Harvest Park when Donlon is the neighborhood’s school.
Ment to state Hart school. Not Donlon.
I’m surprised by a lot of bad pedestrian/vehicle flow design at schools. My kids go/went to Hearst, PMS and Foothill. There are probably 1-3 relatively minor improvements at each site that could drastically improve pedestrian and crossing guard safety. I’m not sure why the district and city don’t make it a priority to put some money to improve this situation. I’m no genius. These are pretty obvious fixes.