DAVIS, Calif. — A UC Davis student was killed in a collision on Hutchison Drive near the West Village housing area, prompting renewed calls for improved bike safety infrastructure, according to a campus statement.
According to the campus statement, the collision occurred just before 3 p.m. on April 13, and he was transported to Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The student was later identified as Lincoln Sabini, 20, by the Solano County Coroner’s Office.
Sabini was a second-year student majoring in sustainable agriculture and food systems.
According to the UC Davis statement, he participated in the UC Davis triathlon sports club, was a swimming instructor with Campus Recreation, and worked on the UC Davis Student Farm.
CBS News spoke with a UC Davis student who witnessed the scene, Daniel Kaplun, who said he was riding nearby when emergency crews arrived.
“It’s a reminder for students to wear helmets and be cautious of cars and your overall environment because your life can be taken away from you just in a moment,” Kaplun said.
University leaders held a town hall meeting on April 29 at the Student Community Center, addressing urgent bike safety interventions following Sabini’s death.
During the meeting, Sabini’s friends advocated and proposed creating an enhanced safety infrastructure called the “Lincoln Loop.”
Sabini’s parents also attended the meeting, describing him as a joyful, expressive and adventurous person.
“He was out to make the world a better place. I really felt that,” his father, Keith Sabini, said, according to KCRA 3, a Sacramento news outlet.
Sabini’s parents said it would be a fitting legacy for their son, who was always looking out for others.
UC Davis is known as a bike-friendly campus, holding a “platinum-rated Bicycle Friendly University” designation from the League of American Bicyclists.
Yolo County is seeking public input for the development of a “comprehensive safety action plan.”
The next workshop will be held May 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Esparto.
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Everyone mentioned in the story is available, so it’s unfortunate that the writer simply picked a couple things from regional corporate media.
Even worse is the quote from one guy talking about helmets: there’s no evidence one way another that a helmet would’ve protected anyone in this situation.
There’s no specific mention that another student – Tris Yasay – was killed by an operator of a trash truck fulfilling services of a contract with the UC Regents on infrastructure that’s the responsibility of the UC Regents – on Hutch – @ Dairy Rd – four years ago. And from what I understand Tris was not killed by a head injury.
(Unfortunately the overpromised rot of helmetism is the kneejerk topic “were they wearing a helmet?” that always comes up first in situations like this involving somebody exercising their modest right of active modality: when one of two neighbors was killed in a collision between two bicycles on April 2, everyone was going on and on on local social media about helmets, but when it was revealed that the woman who died was wearing a helmet, everyone stopped talking. They literally had nothing else to say for a few days until they started up with blaming teenagers for everything.
I believe when this article was first posted on Facebook earlier today, the situation was described as a “bicycle accident”. That’s like describing eating a tin of sardines as a “maritime collision” or – returning to the transportation context – it’s like describing heart disease caused by the noise of I-80 as “oversensitive hearing”. In any case, I’m pleased that a correction was made.
Monica Stark – writing in the Enterprise – has done an amazing job covering the incident, especially focusing on the victim and his family. I don’t know why it’s not referenced. Best would be to do something which adds something.
“. . . when one of two neighbors was killed in a collision between two bicycles on April 2, everyone was going on and on on local social media about helmets, but when it was revealed that the woman who died was wearing a helmet, everyone stopped talking.”
Are you referring to the incident in which a teenager riding an “electric bike” collided with a senior-citizen on a “regular” bike?
If so, I don’t think that had much to do with helmets.
I still haven’t seen any follow-up reporting on exactly what the teenage kid was riding (e.g., an electric motorcycle)?
Is there some kind of purposeful cover-up occurring regarding this?