A string of vehicle collisions in Salinas ends with a tragic fatality of a cyclist.

Have you gone for a bike ride lately? Sara Rubin here, thinking back just a few weeks to Ciclovía Salinas, when I got to cruise down East Alisal Street car-free and carefree. 

One of the young organizers I spoke to for my preview story about that event said she wants to change the narrative around Salinas. One unfortunate narrative that keeps coming true is that the other 364 days of the year, the streets are hazardous to pedestrians and bicyclists.

Around 7pm last night, Nov. 3, a bicyclist was hit and killed by a big rig at the corner of Sanborn Road and Work Street. The truck driver was making a wide right-hand turn and did not see the cyclist going straight through the intersection; she collided with the vehicle and was dragged underneath, says Salinas Police Sgt. Zachary Dunagan. 

That came just a few hours after a person riding an e-scooter on South Main Street struck a car and broke his leg around 3pm. Both cases were accidents, Dunagan says, not crimes—the drivers were cooperative, did not flee and were not intoxicated. 

Just a few days before that, on Thursday, Oct. 30, two teens on gas-powered dirt bikes—not street-legal—were riding on North Main Street toward Harden Parkway. A widely circulated video shows a horrific scene. Oncoming traffic has a green left-turn signal, with vehicles turning onto Harden toward the shopping center. The dirt bikers speed into the intersection illegally, against a red light, and the first collides with a car. The bike—and the rider, and the car—erupt in flames. 

By the time first responders arrived the fire was out, and the riders and the driver are expected to recover. (A GoFundMe campaign is underway to help the driver, Brianna Vargas Aguayo, cover medical expenses and her car, which her sister reports she purchased just a week earlier.)

Even where there are bike lines, and even when cyclists are wearing helmets, there can be collisions, Dunagan says. “I equate it to a seatbelt when you are driving,” he says. “It is not 100 percent, but it could be that 2-percent extra you needed to save your life.”

The unfortunate reality is that Salinas has a lot of vehicle-vs.-person collisions. There were 11 fatalities last year; year-to-date there are five, so this year represents a statistical improvement. 

Dunagan notes that SPD does a lot of safety outreach, encouraging motorists and cyclists to follow the law and avoid distracted driving. “We just want people to be aware and safe,” he says. 

Mari Lynch, who manages Bike Monterey, is a proponent of some of the most manageable infrastructure—green painted “bike boxes” at intersections, giving bicyclists the space to get ahead of cars where they are visible while waiting at a red light.

Salinas has applied for and received grants to improve safety, but that only goes so far. Yes there are accidents that will happen, but there are also too many distracted drivers (and also pedestrians and cyclists) on the road. We all share a responsibility to pay attention, know the law and, hopefully, save a life.