Many of us feel lucky to call Castro Valley home. We’re surrounded by gorgeous scenery and even glimpse the occasional deer running right down the middle of our residential neighborhood streets.

But taking a walk in Castro Valley can be both lovely and dangerous, even a near-death experience.

For the last few years, I have been a committed pedestrian, taking time to walk, exercise my husky Juneau and avoiding driving for nearby errands (doing my bit to save the environment). I am so committed to walking that I recently invested in an “old Lady” shopping cart (I am a retired Oakland Unified District Administrator) to do my weekly shopping at the Safeway on Redwood Road and Castro Valley Boulevard.

My dog and I walk frequently across Redwood Road to Safeway at the signaled crosswalk that is at the driveway into Peets Coffee and the supermarket. But on this particular day a few months ago, I did not, fortunately, bring Juneau. When the signal changed to “Walk,”  I stepped into the crosswalk and proceeded across the street. There are four lanes of traffic. The first lane coming up Redwood was stopped as were lanes three and four.

A car was coming up the middle second lane and not slowing down… but I paused and I thought I made eye contact with the elderly woman driver.  As I took a tentative further step she slammed my shopping cart, t-boning it. By the grace of God, I hung on to the shopping cart causing me to fall back on the ground and away from her menacing wheels.

The clueless driver was going very fast even though the allowable speed limit in this business section of town is 35 mph. This just means when cars make the Castro Valley Boulevard signal and then reach the one at Peet’s they are often going 45-50 mph. And never is there a Highway Patrol or Sheriff monitoring or ticketing…as was true this day.

The driver never slowed down until she reached the Habit’s driveway and then she sped off. While I was banged up a bit, my shopping cart was hardly damaged – it had caught her bumper and flew off into the air.

Here’s what stood out to me about being hit by a car:

• Not one car that was stopped got her license number. The witnesses were too horrified by the scene they had just witnessed.
• I remembered very little of being hit. I was in shock.
• As I staggered out of the street several people seemed to be asking if I was okay. All I could answer again and again was “She hit me and didn’t stop.”

I then wandered into Safeway and found myself in the back by the bakery without remembering how I got there. Then a witness of the hit-and-run came into the Safeway and found me to make sure I was okay. She stayed with me for 20 minutes while I did grocery shopping. There are caring people in our town.