Child cyclist hit near Sacramento school. Where were the street safety measures?
An elementary school student was struck by a car Thursday morning while riding to Northlake TK-8 School, Sacramento Police Department confirmed.
The child was biking to school near the intersection of Oyster Point Way and Dock Circle when they were struck by a car at around 7:30 a.m. The student was transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries, according to a police department spokesperson. The exact cause of the collision is still being investigated.
The student is now home and recovering with family, Twin Rivers Unified School District spokesperson Zenobia Gerald said.
The incident has inspired the city of Sacramento and the school district to assess street safety concerns at the growing school that opened in 2024 in the burgeoning Northlake neighborhood.
Northlake HOA Director and Northlake TK-8 Parent Teacher Committee Vice President Jennifer Chawla pulled up to the scene within a minute after the student was hit. She was dropping her child off at the school when she saw the child on the ground with his mangled bike, followed by the driver who hit him stepping out of their car.
Chawla said she pulled over to direct traffic around the collision site as other adults assisted the injured child. As Chawla attempted to make space for the people in the road and morning drop-off got even busier, she dealt with cars attempting to speed past the site and an 18 wheeler driving through the school zone.
The incident made her take note of “a lack of basic safety protections” — no crosswalks, no school zone signage, no speed limit signs, no speed bumps nor any other traffic calming measures on Oyster Point Way, the main street in front of the school.
“You don’t think to look at these things until something like this happens,” Chawla said.
Chawla alerted Sacramento City Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, school district personnel and neighborhood developers Integral Communities and Lennar to the safety issues in an email on Thursday.
“Councilmember Lisa Kaplan cut the ribbon at its opening, yet no protections were installed before children began attending,” Chawla told the Sacramento Bee. “Today’s preventable incident exposes a major failure of coordination between the City of Sacramento, TRUSD, and the developers (Lennar and Integral).”
Chawla has declared herself a candidate for Kaplan’s District 1 council seat in the 2026 election.
Northlake development street safety concerns
Northlake TK-8 is located in the still-developing Northlake neighborhood in North Natomas, just under five miles from the Sacramento airport. The master-planned community is in its second phase of selling homes, with many more still being constructed. At completion, Northlake will comprise more than 2,000 homes.
The STEM-focused school opened its doors to 370 students in August 2024, and has grown to 600 this school year. School administrators said last year that with the neighborhood’s continued development, they expect the school population to double, if not triple by 2029.
With a maximum capacity of 1,100 students, traffic concerns are likely to grow over the coming years.
“This area is part of a new community still under development,” Gerald said. “We are working with the developer and the city to review conditions near the school and identify ways to enhance safety for our students and families.”
Councilmember Kaplan promised to work with Twin Rivers, the city and North Natomas Jibe, a local nonprofit which advocates for sustainable transportation, to improve the conditions around the school. In a post to her social media channels, Kaplan also publicly shared a response to Chawla’s email from Director of Public Works Matt Eierman.
“At this point, our priority is twofold: (1) to fully understand the current traffic conditions and identify any gaps through a field investigation by our traffic engineers and investigators, and (2) to coordinate responsibilities with our partners — the school district, Northlake TK-8, and Jibe — on near-term steps to improve visibility and safety around Northlake TK-8 while we pursue permanent measures,” Eierman wrote.
For now, Twin Rivers Police Services has increased patrols near the school to help manage traffic and ensure kids reach the school safely.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM.
