By Lauren McSherry

Each day 36,000 people bike to work in the Bay Area. And I’m one of them.

Since I live in Mountain View and work in Los Altos, my commute is short - only about three miles.

I bike to work for a bunch of reasons: to reduce my impact on traffic congestion and air quality by not driving and to stay healthy. But most of all, I bike because it’s a great way to start my day.

Some mornings, however, as I ride along Almond Avenue, my morning takes on a nightmare quality. With an elementary school and a high school located on the street, morning traffic can be hellish.

I usually try to time my commute to miss the traffic, but sometimes my timing is off. The other morning, I felt as if I was caught in a death trap as numerous cars lined up along Almond just before the start of the school day.

The problem wasn’t the number of vehicles or the street infrastructure. It was the parents who were pulling into the bike lane to drop off their children.

This is a dangerous practice that needs to stop. Having cars pulling into, driving out of or occupying the bike lane in front of Los Altos High School or Almond Elementary School means that there is no safe place for bicyclists.

Many bicyclists ride along Almond Avenue every morning. The majority are high school students, elementary school students and parents escorting children too young to ride to school alone.

Do they have the ability to dodge a driver in a rush to drop off a child?

I doubt that most drivers are cautiously checking their side and rearview mirrors for children on bikes when they pull into or out of the bike lane. In fact, I know that from experience.

Although signs that read “No Parking” line the street, there are no signs that read “No Standing.” Such signs would be the best solution to ensure a safer street. Another solution would be for drivers to pull into side streets that handle less volume to let off children or teenagers. But most residents on side streets probably wouldn’t like having their early morning privacy invaded by numerous cars.

If more students biked or walked to school, the bike lane problem would not exist. As it stands now, Almond Avenue is not a safe route to bike to school or work.

McSherry is a Los Altos Town Crier staff writer.