Pedestrian struck by car in San Mateo was ‘centerpiece’ of large family

Vasquez cleaned homes for a living, but she never owned a car and always took the bus and walked everywhere, her granddaughter Samantha Vasquez said, including to take care of her 96-year-old mother.

“She had her same routine for 40 years,” Samantha Vasquez said. “She liked to take the bus and go walking. All my aunts and uncles would offer to help her get her license, but she liked to walk. She was always super independent.”

Vasquez said her grandmother had talked about the dangerous intersection on more than one occasion and was always cautious, frequently reminding her children and grandchildren to be careful when passing intersections.

“She would always tell my siblings to be careful and would always say [that intersection] was super dangerous,” she said.

Veronica had six children, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“She was so full of life and loved to dance. She would always dance with me,” Samantha Vasquez said. “This has left such a burden on our family. She was the centerpiece of a huge family.”

The collision has placed even more pressure on city and state officials to advocate for a more protected crosswalk at the intersection, which currently has a marked crosswalk, pedestrian signals and signs reminding drivers to yield to pedestrians. Making improvements to the intersection is difficult, since El Camino Real is under Caltrans, or state, jurisdiction, not the city’s.

San Mateo and its neighboring cities have experienced several pedestrian fatalities over the past year. Just two months ago, a man was also hit by a car and killed while walking in neighboring Foster City, and in August, a 4-year-old boy was fatally struck by a car in Burlingame. Last February, a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run incident in San Mateo, which has yet to result in any arrests.

A GoFundMe for Veronica Vasquez can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-loving-farewell-for-our-devoted-grandmother.