Jennifer Smith, 50, is still in a hospital bed at Stanford after a brutal July 2 collision in which a charter bus struck and dragged her while she was riding her bike near the intersection of San Antonio Road and Middlefield Road. Friends and fellow riders say she suffered multiple fractures, including a broken femur and tibia, a fractured pelvis and a collapsed lung. She was placed on a ventilator and has already gone through seven surgeries.
What happened
The crash was reported shortly after 5 p.m. Officers with the Palo Alto Police Department's Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team shut down southbound lanes and cordoned off the scene while they began piecing together what went wrong. Police said the bus and the cyclist were the only parties involved, and that the driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, according to Mountain View Voice.
Injuries and treatment
Family and friends say Smith was rushed to Stanford's intensive care unit, where she was placed on a ventilator while surgeons worked on her many injuries. She remains unable to speak, Palo Alto Online reported.
Her friend and fellow cyclist, Reginald Webb, told the outlet he chased the bus and ran after the bus, banging on the side, then stayed with Smith until help arrived. Webb and other riders have become de facto spokespeople for her, relaying updates while she recovers quietly in the ICU.
Why this intersection matters
The crash happened at the San Antonio Road and Middlefield Road interchange, right on the Palo Alto and Mountain View border, a crossing many cyclists already consider stressful. City collision mapping shows four injury crashes involving cyclists at that specific location between 2018 and 2022, including one that led to a fatal or severe injury.
San Antonio Road and Middlefield are listed as priority corridors for separated bikeways in the city's Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, which targets high-injury streets for safety upgrades, according to the Palo Alto Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and its Existing Conditions analysis.
Fundraiser and community response
Webb has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Smith's medical bills and long-term recovery expenses. Neighbors and local cyclists have been sharing the fundraiser widely, hoping to ease at least the financial part of what is clearly going to be a long recovery.
Local TV stations picked up Webb's account and highlighted the fundraising effort, and the story was carried by KRON and later republished on AOL.
Investigation and next steps
Palo Alto police say the STAR team is still investigating the collision. As of July 13, no one had been cited in connection with the crash, according to Palo Alto Online.
Cycling advocates say the incident underscores the urgency of building out the bike projects already in the city’s transportation plan, particularly separated lanes on priority corridors like San Antonio and Middlefield, while investigators finish their work on how this crash unfolded.
