Police are searching for a driver who struck a bicyclist and then took off Tuesday night in Key Biscayne.
The crash happened shortly before 7:30 p.m. near the 7300 block of Crandon Boulevard.
A 48-year-old man was riding his bike southbound on Crandon when he was hit from behind by a vehicle, according to Miami-Dade Police.
The bicyclist had injuries to his head and was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was listed in critical condition Wednesday, police said.
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Aristides Maza Duerto said he was out in Key Biscayne for a routine ride with his cousin Carlos Trevisson Maza when a car came out of nowhere.
“I actually hear the impact, boom!" Maza Duerto said. "Then he fell all the way to the right into the grass. He flipped two times in the air before he hit the ground. It looked very bad. He was bleeding and unconscious.”
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Police didn't have a description of the vehicle but said the incident remains under investigation.
Maza Duerto didn’t get a good look at the car but he said it should have damage to the right side.
“You should have stopped. There is no reason for not stopping," he said.
Cyclists are known to ride the long stretches of Key Biscayne but collisions between cyclists and cars keep happening.
Last summer, the Department of Transportation did a traffic study to see if they could find solutions to make the Rickenbacker Causeway and Crandon Boulevard safer.
Plastic barriers were put in place in some areas to prevent cars from driving into bike lanes and the speed limit was lowered to 40 mph.
Maza Duerto said those changes are helpful, but drivers and cyclists need to change their mindset too.
"We were on our lane. We were doing what we were supposed to do in the place that we were supposed to do it," he said. "If that driver had kept himself on his lane, we would be fine and I would be having breakfast with him instead of having him at a hospital.”
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
