UC Davis community pushes for safety changes after campus bike deaths

About 100 students and community cycling advocates gathered Wednesday at UC Davis, calling for safety improvements along Hutchison Drive after two students were killed while biking on the road in the past four years.

The group marched from the UC Davis Quad to Mrak Hall, pushing for a lower speed limit and high-visibility green bike lanes along Hutchison Drive, a stretch of roadway on the university's west campus.

One of the students killed was Lincoln Sabini, a UC Davis student who died in April after police said he was struck by a passing vehicle while riding his bike.

For Lincoln's parents, the push for changes comes after a five-month investigation into their son's death.

UC Davis released its crash report last week, concluding that Lincoln veered into traffic for an unknown reason before he was hit. The investigation was closed without criminal charges against the driver.

In the Sabini family's living room, a growing memorial to Lincoln serves as a reminder of the son they lost. Photos, candles and even Lincoln's favorite shoes are displayed as his parents work to keep his memory alive.

"He was funny. He was kind. He was caring. He was empathetic," his parents said. "He looked out for other people. He loved his brothers."

Lincoln's mother, Rucha Powers, said the family never imagined sending their son to college would end in tragedy.

"I don't ever want to see anybody go through this," Powers said. "And we sent Lincoln off to school with, like, all these high hopes and excitement. And this was the last thing we imagined was going to happen. The last thing."

The family is now calling for a separated bike path along Hutchison Drive.

"I would want to see a separated bike path," Powers said. "Lincoln was a really strong biker. Something made him veer left. Maybe something ran across his path. Who knows? We'll never know. He's not here to tell his side of the story."

The students and cycling advocates who marched Wednesday are calling their proposed safety project the "Lincoln Loop," which would include protected bike lanes through the west campus.

Powers said the family wants to make sure Lincoln's death leads to changes that could prevent another tragedy.

"Our son died out there, and it just can't get whitewashed," she said.

Lincoln was not the first UC Davis student killed along Hutchison Drive.

In 2022, Tris Yasay, another UC Davis student and plant science major, was biking along the roadway when she was hit and killed by a garbage truck.

Yasay and Lincoln were both plant science majors, and both had years of life ahead of them.

Powers said she has connected with Yasay's family and has helped care for Yasay's ghost bike, a roadside memorial placed to remember cyclists killed in crashes.

"I just feel so much for her parents ... It does feel like we're in this together now. The last thing we want is for in another few years someone else to die out there," Powers said.

The Sabini family said they have discussed potential safety improvements with university officials. According to the family, UC Davis officials said they would revisit the issue after the police investigation was completed.

Now that the investigation is over, the family worries the lack of criminal charges could mean the issue receives no further action.

UC Davis has not announced any specific changes to Hutchison Drive.