Dear Editor,

I was saddened to read about the bicycle accident death of Yichao Wang. Unfortunately, I was not at all surprised to read that the accident took place on Palm Drive. As a Caltrain commuter, I bike Palm Drive twice a day, and I can report that the traffic flow on Palm Drive is an everyday hazard to cyclists.

It is rare for me to bike Palm Drive without being passed by a speeding car with dangerously little clearance. Perhaps I notice these reckless drivers more since one of them struck me last July, breaking my shoulder. At the intersection where Wang was killed, I quite regularly have close calls when drivers rushing home make hurried right turns out of Museum Way.

Stanford Police Chief Laura Wilson’s warnings on vigilance are well-taken. But they are unlikely to have an impact on off-campus visitors like the man who killed Wang, or community members taking shortcuts across campus like the teenager who broke my shoulder. The campus police could do a lot more for our safety by handing out a few tickets to the speeders and aggressive drivers who make Palm Drive such a hazard to the rest of us.

-Michael Dworsky, graduate student in economics