Police investigation closes in campus death of UC Davis cyclist, family pushes for change

More than five months after UC Davis student Lincoln Sabini was killed while riding his bike on campus, university officials have released the findings of their investigation and the police report from the crash for the first time.

Sabini was riding his bike to work along Hutchison Drive on UC Davis' West Campus near the West Village housing when he was involved in the fatal accident with a Honda Crosstour, as CBS Sacramento first reported in April.

The name of the driver of that vehicle was redacted from the police report.

According to university officials, "The comprehensive investigation included precise reconstruction and analysis of the moments leading to the collision. Investigators determined Sabini sustained a fatal injury when, for unknown reasons, his bicycle veered into the traffic lane, colliding with a motor vehicle traveling in the same direction."

In the report, witnesses described seeing Sabini appear to have "lost his balance," veer into traffic and go airborne as he was struck by the vehicle. According to medical examiners, he died on the scene from blunt force trauma to the head.

"Lincoln was a strong and confident cyclist, with experience on Davis roads from his time on the Tri team. We believe he would not have left the bike lane unless some obstacle or some hazard caused him to," said Sabini's mother, Rucha Powers.

The ghost bike honoring Sabini still sits as a reminder of his tragic death at the site where he lost his life. His parents added signs to the display reading "killed by a car" and "our son died here."

Regarding the newly released report, a close friend of Sabini's says it brings up all the emotions of the day of his loss.

"Nothing is going to change the fact that he's gone. It doesn't change the fact that that road is a deadly road," said Aaron Shaw.

Shaw is known as the Davis "bike doctor" and has long worked with the Davis Bike Collective. He also advocates for cycling safety.

"That's what our job is, to convince them that there is a problem, which is crazy, that we've had to try so hard... it seems so obvious to basically this whole town," said Shaw.

The UC Davis police report indicated the investigation is complete and that the case should be closed.

Powers tells CBS Sacramento her family had been pushing to see the police report for months. They got to view it on Wednesday, one day before the university released it publicly.

"The loss of Lincoln is beyond measure, both for our family and for his greater community. We hope that changes are made so that no other family ever has to go through this unnecessary tragedy again," said Powers.

Both Sabini's family and his cycling community are advocating for changes to West Campus, circulating a petition since his death that calls for protected bike lanes.

"Two students have died on that road. So we're just going to keep advocating," said Shaw. "The infrastructure on that road and in general should protect cyclists and leave a bigger margin for error because mistakes do happen."

Advocates want the university to build what they would like to call "Lincoln Loop" to honor Sabini and better serve students riding their bikes on this stretch of campus.

"The fact that this mistake became deadly, in our opinion, is due to the lack of safe infrastructure for student cyclists on that part of campus. He had no other choice that day than to be where he was, headed in the direction he was, in order to get to his student job. A car moving at speeds up to 45 miles per hour and a painted white line left no margin for error that day. This is unacceptable. To us, his family, this report makes it crystal clear that UC Davis needs to have a separate protected bike path on Hutchinson road and throughout West Campus," said Powers.

CBS Sacramento asked UC Davis Thursday if any significant safety changes will be made along Hutchison Drive. Our crews noticed that since Sabini's death, the white striping and bicycle lane indicators had been repainted with new white paint, but no other noticeable changes have been made.

University officials did not directly answer that question, but responded that "UC Davis has a long-standing commitment to bicycle safety, with ongoing investments in training and campus infrastructure to better serve cyclists, scooter riders, and pedestrians. Building on that history, the university set aside $20 million in 2023 for improvements to campus roads and paths and training programs. Additional initiatives, including Moving Forward Together, are in the planning stages."

At this time, based on the police investigation alone, it does not appear the driver of the vehicle that struck Sabini will face any charges.

Yolo County District Attorney Melinda Aiello told CBS Sacramento, "We have not received any reports from UC Davis Police Department and I do not know if UCDPD plans to submit anything to our office for review."