Caught On Video: Truck Hits Motorcycle Rider In San Joaquin County
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — A careless maneuver nearly killed a motorcyclist in a hit-and-run encounter that was caught on camera.
Christopher Bell from Stockton was left for dead, by a hit and run driver. He miraculously survived a high-speed crash while riding his motorcycle on Highway 4.
Bell said he ended up in a ditch full of water on a remote part of Highway 4 between Stockton and Discovery Bay.
The dashcam video shows the driver of a red truck attempting to pass multiple cars. He starts to swerve but then slams head-on into Bell, smashing his right foot.
"My foot was severely broken. And I lost balance and I went off into the ditch about 20 feet," Bell said.
The video shows the driver get back into the right lane, then keep driving away. Meanwhile, Bell was lying face down in a ditch.
"I could hear somebody who had stopped and they were yelling 'hello, hello,'" he said.
Bell said two good Samaritans comforted him until he could be airlifted to the hospital.
"He asked me if there was anyone I needed to notify…I told him my parents," Bell said.
He was on his way to their house for dinner but ended up in the hospital with 15 screws in his right foot. Doctors said it will take about a year to recover.
"I was happy to just be alive at that point," he said.
Bell said it was a matter of inches and seconds. Instead of swerving into a ditch, he could have smashed directly through the windshield and possibly not survived.
And now he struggles with another unsolved harsh reality.
"He chose to leave me in the ditch face down to die, really. It had the opportunity twice to pull over and chose not to," Bell said.
Bell wants this hit-and-run driver to face charges over this incident.
CBS13 reached out to California Highway Patrol. A spokesperson said they are investigating this crash. Anyone with information can give them a call.