Child hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after car accident in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO – A child is fighting for his life after a car crashed into a tree in Sacramento Sunday evening.

The accident occurred just before 4 p.m. at the intersection of Carlson Drive and J Street, not far from Sacramento State.

Police investigated for hours and said a child suffered life-threatening injuries. The other passengers, who were two men, were injured and are expected to survive.

The intersection is busy and connects traffic from the university to the city center. That's why this crash comes as no surprise to many people in the area.

“At this point it does not appear that the child was ejected, but there is a risk of some serious injuries,” said Allison Smith, a public information officer for the Sacramento Police Department.

According to police, the child was sitting in the back of the car seat.

“The way the infrastructure directs cars onto this road is like a freeway entrance ramp and some calming measures need to be installed because people drive through there at insane speeds,” said a cyclist who rides through the area almost daily.

He says some of the sudden turns near that intersection nearly sent cars flying into the air and nearly hit him.

“Wear your seatbelt, slow down and avoid distractions,” Smith said.

“It sucks that people have to die before people care about this stuff,” the cyclist said.

Police say drugs and alcohol did not play a role, but they have not been able to rule out other causes at this point in the investigation.