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SALT LAKE CITY -- A motorcycle rider is lucky he has only minor road rash after a hit-and-run near 400 South and 1200 West in Salt Lake City Monday morning.
Police are searching for the person driving the car who pulled out directly in front of Travis Brian as he was coming to an intersection.
"I slowed down as much as possible but ended up hitting [the car's] tail end," Brian said.
You get hit, you look up and they're just driving away.
–Travis Brian
He ended up with road rash on his elbow but otherwise appears to be OK.
He's glad he was wearing all his protective gear, but choked up when trying to describe what happened.
"It's kind of a weird feeling because you get hit, you're looking up, and they're just driving away. Their bumper is dragging. You smell gas, you see other cars coming at you. You're thinking: Wow, what just happened?" said Brian.
Neighbors saw what happened and tried to assist.
"It makes you feel better," Brian said. "One person did take off, but three people helped."
Salt Lake police Detective Pat Wilkinson says the driver likely would have just faced a failure to yield citation had he stopped. Now he'll face a possible misdemeanor charge for not stopping.
"You know when you hit a bump in the road, so you know if a motorcycle and your vehicle collide," said Wilkinson. "So we are going under the interpretation that he knows what happened and he left the scene for a reason. Usually in these circumstances it's something other than the accident itself."
Wilkinson says a witness followed the car three blocks to 900 West and 140 South. The driver then ditched his car and took off on foot.
Police are still looking for the man but say they have a good idea who he is.
Wilkinson and Brian both stress the importance of motorists looking out for motorcycle riders as well as people on bikes and anyone else using the road.
"He could have hit a guy on a bike, a little kid going through the sidewalk here, and just left them down on the ground," said Brian.
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Story compiled with information from Randall Jeppesen and Anne Forester .
