Officials acted quickly when student bicyclist was hit by a car at the crosswalk on Oct. 20
Minutes matter — trying to get to school on time or to the scene of an accident on time.
On Tuesday Oct. 20, shortly after the first period bell rang, sophomore Jaime Jung was biking the crosswalk on McClellan to MVHS when her bike was hit by a student driver. Police officers, administrators, the fire department and paramedics arrived quickly to the scene.
"Both of us were kinda running late," Jung said. "I heard this sound… I found myself on the floor."
According to Jung, the car hit her back tire and by instinct she pushed herself away from the bike, landing on the ground to the right of the car.
"When I got hit… I thought so many things," said Jung. "I felt like, myself in the air, then all of a sudden I dropped. It was like, kinda like slow motion."
After the collision, the student driver "very maturely called 9-1-1," Assistant Principal Brad Metheany said. Two community members driving by also stopped to help and call the paramedics.
According to Metheany, two police officers arrived in about eight minutes, and he and the fire department followed in the minute after that. When the paramedics arrived with an ambulance about 15 minutes after the call, Jung was transported to El Camino Hospital. She sustained minor injuries to her head, neck and back, and returned to school on the following Tuesday.
"If she hadn’t had her helmet on, there could have been much more serious injuries," Metheany said.
In this sense, Metheany affirmed Jung as "the perfect example [of a student bicyclist]." He commends those who stay in the bike lanes and wear helmets, since daily commute traffic "a real scary situation."
Despite slow-moving cars and swift bicyclists, out of about 400 bikes, there are about 5 to 6 student accidents per year.
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