South Bay Community Readies To Rally For Pedestrian Safety

CAMPBELL, CA — A South Bay community plans to rally for pedestrian safety this weekend.

The Silicon Valley Sponsoring Committee is holding the Neighborhood Action rally and march in response to the Sept.16 crash that killed Jacob Villanueva near Castlemont Elementary School, where the boy was a third-grade student.

Police said the boy was in a crosswalk with a woman when they were both hit in a crash reported at 8:03 a.m. that day. They were taken to a hospital where the boy died. The woman suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

"Jacob was a shy little boy that once you got to know him he was full of energy and brightened up your day with his infections smile!" a relative wrote about the boy on a GoFundMe that's since been disabled.

The crash is among a spate of recent traffic collisions in the South Bay, among many other Bay Area communities.

On Oct. 14, San José police reported four serious accidents involving pedestrians or bicyclists within a 24-hour period.

"Units are at the scene of another traffic collision involving a pedestrian and a vehicle," an exasperated San José Police Department tweeted.

A week later, San José State football player Camdan McWright was fatally struck by a school bus while he was riding an electric scooter on his way to practice.

Nemesio Isorena, 62 of South San Francisco, was fatally struck by a SamTrans bus Monday night.

Retired Stanford University water polo coach Dante Dettamanti was killed in an Oct. 25 bike crash.

The city of San José this week experienced its 30th pedestrian death and 58th traffic fatality. The crash reported at 4:36 a.m. Wednesday at Almaden Expressway and Cherry Avenue was the South Bay city’s 56th fatal collision.

Saturday’s rally is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.with an assembly at 3131 Cadillac Dr. It will be followed by a 10:15 a.m. march from Cadillac Drive to St. Lucy’s Church, and a subsequent 11 a.m. march from St. Lucy’s Church.

San José District 1 Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and incoming San José City Councilwoman Rosemary Kamei are confirmed to attend, according to the rally's organizers.

"Our school community is heartbroken by this development, as every single one of our students we care for and love like our own," Superintendent Shelly Viramontez wrote in a message to the school community around the time of the crash.

"As a parent, and as your superintendent, I ask you to please hold the family in your thoughts, as they will need our entire community to hold them in our arms."

The SVSC is a non-partisan network of civic associations, faith-based organizations and nonprofits that work together to effect change issues affecting our communities.

“Our district and several community groups are co-sponsoring a neighborhood action about safety on November 5th. Several local churches, families, neighbors, and employees plan a peaceful march down Winchester Blvd. to continue to call attention to the need for greater safety measures in the community,” the Campbell Unified School District said on its web page.

For complete details about Saturday's rally, view this flyer.

— Bay City News contributed to this report