Witnesses Say Rider Bolted After Slamming Into Toddler With Her Bike
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Tuesday for a bike rider who crashed into a child.
"Just from my personal experience, it was the worst thing I ever saw," Joshua Sperber said.
Sperber was still shaken up after witnessing a bicyclist crash into a 2-year-old girl on the shared pedestrian bike path along the Hudson River on the Upper West Side.
"As soon as I saw the collision my eyes were on the child being pulverized," Sperber said.
Sperber said the accident happened around 6 p.m. Saturday.
He was standing with his 7-month-old son in a stroller overlooking the path near West 95th Street when he said the female rider plowed into the toddler at a high rate of speed.
"She was hit with such massive force and was slammed down on the ground," he told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez, "The cyclist got a little defensive because she was upset. She said, 'I didn't see the child.,' and apologized several times but then under five minutes, left."
Police have been looking for the female rider who they said is white and in her 50s, about 5'7" and 130-lbs with brownish grey hair.
She was riding what was described as a multi-colored racing bike.
"This is a dangerous situation. Because if you look there's not a definitive bike lane for one side for the bikes and one side for the pedestrians," Audie Brunson said.
Brunson said many cyclists are often distracted and not watching what's on the path ahead.
"I just had the dog over here. The guy just missed running over my dog," Brunson said.
Not everyone agreed.
"I do think that most bikers are very vigilant about who is in front of them," Dennis Pearlstein said.