“There is strength in numbers and if there are enough of us bringing this attention to the city council, and city, maybe we can create change. No, not maybe, WE WILL. Thank you all for coming out and supporting us.”

Said Bunny Lockwood, the mother of Cole Lockwood, a victim of Sunnyvale street violence (among many others). Close to 200 people gathered on October 30th at Plaza Del Sol to honor those whose lives were lost and to urge decision-makers to prioritize Safe Streets. Because Safe Streets Save Lives!

In the year 2016, the City of Sunnyvale passed a Vision Zero Policy - a goal to have zero traffic fatalities. July 30th, 2019 - The City of Sunnyvale adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan - a critical step towards eliminating citywide traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The Action Plan lists various programs, initiatives, and steps that include setting aside dedicated funding for this purpose, creating a Vision Zero task force to oversee the Plan implementation, holding trainings for the Communications and Public Safety department on how to communicate traffic collisions and improve collision data reporting, conduct public meetings, monitor and report on progress and much more. We urge the City to honor this Plan and to provide an update on accomplishments towards the Plan goals.

The table below shows the trend of Pedestrian and Bicyclist deaths in Sunnyvale from 2016-2022.

Community members, friends, family, and loved ones gathered together in solidarity with Safe Streets Save Lives to honor the lives of our fellow Sunnyvale residents Cole Lockwood, Jesus “Jessie” Ramos, Yong Hu, and Franciso Flores Garica. Their lives were taken away from us too soon due to traffic violence. We’re urging the council to move quickly to honor their Vision Zero Commitment so no more lives are lost.

Many may wonder what a bicycle coalition is doing organizing around community issues?

This would be a great time to tell you that what we do is always about advocating for people to be able to safely travel in and around their communities and not just about bicycles or bike lanes. We believe that Safe Streets Save Lives - may it be pedestrians, bicyclists, young, old, differently abled, and unhoused.

At the Plaza, community members listed down names of streets that they feel unsafe to ride or walk on. Among the streets written were: S.Wolfe, El Camino Real, Homestead & Langport, Fair Oaks, Bernando, Arques, Kifer, Lawrence Expressway, Foothill and 280, South Mathilda, Tasman Drive, and Wolfe. The list of unsafe streets came to a startling total of 13. Thirteen has never been a lucky number and in this case, it is no exception. We hope these images will serve as a welcome to Sunnyvale council to look into why its residents do not feel safe on these streets and to make the needed improvements.

Sometimes the terms pedestrians, bicyclists, or fatality desensitize us and allow us to forget that they are so much more than that. The Safe Streets Save Live gathering began with a moment of silence to honor Cole Lockwood, Jesus “Jessie” Ramos, Francisco Flores Garcia, and Yong Hu. In the news, you may have only heard them referred to as bicyclists or pedestrians, it was important to honor them by remembering them not as pedestrians and bicyclists but as neighbors, sons, friends, brothers, uncles, and fathers. While reading this please take a moment of silence in remembrance of them.

Assemblymember Otto Lee joined the community as a community member along with his daughter and echoed concerns. He was followed by Cole Lockwood’s mother Estella” Bunny” Lockwood. Estella was joined by loving friends and family that came to support her and show their love for Cole. There is nothing like the love a mother has for a son or the pain that could be heard in her voice as she spoke. She stood tall and she powerfully spoke these words “ There is strength in numbers and if there are enough of us bringing this attention to the city council, and city maybe we can create change. No, not maybe WE WILL. Thank you all for coming out and supporting us.” Additionally, community members spoke in support of safe streets and the need to urge the city to do more.

The Walk/Ride of Remembrance: Our walk/ride of Remembrance began with a stop at Washington and Mathilda where Francisco Flores Garcia was killed on On October 10th. The group continued on to Sunnyvale Ave and Hendy where Jesus “Jessie” Ramos was killed on Sept 9, 2022. At each stop, we took a moment to honor them and placed flowers next to the ghost shoes that were placed in their memory.

The group walked to two pedestrian fatality sites and then rode by another intersection which saw a pedestrian and a bicyclist fatality.

Our final stop was at Wolfe and Inverness where Cole Lockwood and Yong Hu’s lives were taken when they were struck by drivers on their way back home. Cole Lockwood’s mother Estella “Bunny” met us at the intersection, she stood with supportive friends and family near the ghost bike in honor of Yong Hu whom we lost on September 26th, and the ghost shoes in honor of her son, Cole whom we lost on Sept 8th.

What we did when we arrived may be something that many find controversial. As we entered the Wolfe and Inverness intersection, we filled the intersection from corner to corner and crosswalk to crosswalk. We filled the same crosswalk that Cole lost his life in. Filling the intersection impeded traffic and inconvenienced drivers.

On October 30th from 11:15 am to 11:16 am 100’s of people on bicycles stopped traffic from moving for 1 minute in honor of Cole Lockwood. In our moment of silence on Wolfe and Inverness, we said the names of Yong Hu and Cole Lockwood. SVBC’s Tim Oey concluded the moment of silence by looking toward Bunny Lockwood, bicyclists in attendance, and passing motorists, and saying these final words “We can do better and you deserve more”.

The sad fact is that if these same streets were designed to honor life instead of making sure that drivers are not “inconvenienced”, Cole would still be here. Our only apology is that we were not able to impede traffic on Sept 8th the day that Cole was attempting to cross the street to go home because stopping traffic for just one minute on that day could have saved his life.

How can you help? Please take 5 minutes today to write to the council and to the city manager (cc diana@bikesiliconvalley.org) asking them to:

Honor their commitment of adopting the Vision Zero Policy in 2016 which aims at ZERO traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
- Prioritize the implementation of the Vision Zero Action Plan
- Allocate funding and dedicated staff to make the implementation of the Vision Zero Action Plan possible
Design streets for people and not only for cars - this will ensure the safety of all roadway users.
Include an assessment of infrastructure in post-crash investigation reports and fast-track the process, especially during a fatal crash.
Don't forget to add your own personal stories

Lastly, pass this on to one friend and ask them to do the same. The more City decision-makers hear from us, the more pressure can be built to make this a priority.

SVBC urges all cities to take strategic and pointed actions to keep Vision Zero front and center – calling for continuous plan updates to remain in line with best practices and trends; an audit to make sure Vision Zero has the appropriate level of staff and resources to be effective; and building redundancy by integrating Vision Zero actions into other guiding documents, including the city’s General Plan and departmental work plans.

Cities have a responsibility to make our roadways safer for everyone; we at SVBC recognize that we can’t do it alone. This is not just a call to action for Sunnyvale residents, but also for others. We urge everyone to push city decision-makers to design streets for people and not only for cars.