Mary Pope-Handy and Clair Handy 408 204-7673 mary@popehandy.com

Deaths on Blossom Hill Road

by | Mar 28, 2023 | Safety

Prevent more deaths on Blossom Hill Road - map of the street with words to drive more slowlyThe east Los Gatos community is shaken by the deaths on Blossom Hill Road this year. They were both close together in time and close together in location.

The media isn’t connecting the stories, even though they are only about .15 of a mile apart. One of them was in Los Gatos and the other in San Jose (Blossom Hill Rd is the dividing line). One was a 2 car accident, the other was an auto hitting people in a crosswalk. Both took place in the first quarter of 2023.

The two recent accidents that caused deaths on Blossom Hill Road:

  1. On January 8th, 2023 at 9:52 a.m., a 19 year old Palo Alto man was driving his vehicle from Belgatos Road and turning left onto Blossom Hill Rd when he was struck by another vehicle and killed. The other driver was injured, also. I haven’t been able to find an update (whether the other driver was arrested or what).
  2. On March 26th, a mother, daughter, and dog were legally crossing Blossom Hill Road at Leigh when they were struck by a vehicle driving westbound with the driver running the red light. The driver did not stop. The mother died, the daughter was injured, and the dog also perished. The driver was identified, in part by the use of Automatic License Plate Reader cameras (discussed in a Belwood Neighborhood Watch meeting recently). That person was arrested and is now behind bars.

I want to add that it seems to be a small miracle that two weeks ago, when we had a multi day power outage, there were no fatalities along this part of Blossom Hill, despite the traffic light being out for days and with no police officer guiding traffic there and no temporary stop signs or orange cones in place. We saw people fly through that intersection as if it didn’t exist.

Part of the challenge for preventing injury and deaths on Blossom Hill Road is the question of jurisdiction. There are places where the northern part of the street is in San Jose and the southern side is in Los Gatos. Here’s a map with the approximate boundary line in green.  The two Xs mark the fatal accidents this year.

(more…)

School crossing guard on Blossom Hill Road may be cut

by | Nov 15, 2011 | Schools

In case you’re not getting the Belwood Home Owner’s Association emails, here’s something that came across my email over the last couple of days:

This week, the SJPD is doing a pedestrian count for crossing Blossom Hill Rd and Harwood during school hours (7:30 AM and 1:00 PM). Please walk as much as you can across Blossom Hill Rd (to Noddin) and help save our crossing guard, Dorothy. If they don’t see many people walking and using the intersection, they’ll cut the funding for that post and many children will be forced to cross a very hectic intersection without any crossing guard assistance.