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Respect for young bicyclists on the roadway
After practicing over the holidays whenever the rain let up, my 7-year-old rode her bike to school for the first time on Jan. 24. She did great. The other adult humans of Mountain View with whom we shared a two-block stretch of Stierlin Road, not so much.
One man in a white pickup truck driving in the other direction yelled from his open driver side window, “get off the road!” This stretch of road lacks a bike lane, and it was unsafe for vehicles to pass us for several moments. The car directly behind us respectfully slowed, but two cars back, a driver drummed on their horn repeatedly in frustration.
All this to shame a little girl riding home from school for the first time. Cyclists have the right to the full lane. Children have the right to move about the world. Please respect those of different abilities and who are developing their skills.
Christina Greer
Stierlin Road
What can we do to reduce plastic in the environment?
I am a high school junior. I live in Mountain View and I am highly concerned about the ever-growing nemesis of plastic pollution and its impact on the natural environment.
Since the summer of 2022, I have been raising awareness about plastic bag pollution. I have been campaigning outside the farmers market (on Sundays) with banners and placards for several weeks and have named my campaign Sustainable Sundays. I also spoke with customers about plastic bag pollution and the use of reusable bags to carry produce.
To encourage them to bring their reusable produce bags, I even distributed free cloth produce bags funded with my birthday money. I also participated in the Mountain View harvest festival where I was given a free booth by the generous organizers.
During my conversation, people told me they want to avoid using plastic bags but forget their reusable produce bags, either at home or in the car. To address this issue, I have developed a free Android “Bag Reminder App” that reminds people to bring their reusable produce bags to the farmers market. This app is available at Google Play Store.
Users can select their local farmers market. Based on their selection, the App will send two reminders. First, at a user-specified time before the start of the farmers market, if they are within 5 miles of the market location, and second when they are within 0.1 miles of the market. The App does not collect or store any user data.
Akshat Mehrotra
Serena Court
For those of you with concerns similar to Akshat’s, please consider joining local groups such as GreenSpacesMV (greenspacesmv.org), and, to help make improvements related to getting around by bike or on foot, consider participating in the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Mountain View team (bikesiliconvalley.org/get-involved/local-teams) and Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning (MVCSP) (mvcsp.org), and attending the City of Mountain View Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (B/PAC) meetings (www.mountainview.gov/council/bcc/bikeped.asp). The more who get involved, the better!