UC Davis student dies after being struck by car near West Village
A student has died after they were struck by a vehicle while riding a bicycle near the UC Davis campus, officials say.
The incident happened on Monday just before 3 p.m. According to a statement from UC Davis, the student was struck near the West Village housing area west of the main campus.
Exactly what led up to the student being struck is not clear, but school officials say the student was taken to the Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center and later died. Officials have not released the student's name.
UC Davis police are investigating the incident, along with other agencies.
The campus and surrounding city are known for being highly walkable and bike-accessible, with university figures showing more than 30,000 riders biking through campus each day.
A UC Davis student who witnessed the scene, Daniel Kaplun, said he was riding nearby when emergency crews closed the road.
"I was actually riding past, and they closed the entire road with a bunch of cop cars and ambulances," Kaplun said.
Kaplun, a managerial economics junior, said he bikes between 10 and 15 miles a day and said the area's bike infrastructure is generally strong, but merging with traffic can still be dangerous.
"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," he said. "So it's very tragic."
Bike safety advocate Debra Banks, who survived being hit by a car while cycling, said the broader issue goes beyond individual behavior.
"It is about our infrastructure and how we have built our environment," Banks said. "We've built it for cars."
Banks called for safety improvements such as lower speed limits and redesigned intersections to reduce collisions and prevent future deaths.