By AMANDA MARTINEZ
Andrew Bennett rides his bike through the Mission daily but on Wednesday what started as a usual bike ride turned into the scariest day of his life when he and his 4-year old son became the victim of a hit and run.
The San Francisco Police Department is close to making an arrest, but want corroborating witnesses to come forward.
At 11:30 a.m. Bennett, followed by son Robby, was riding north bound on Valencia Street in route to a father-son day at the Academy of Sciences when a silver PT cruiser runs a red light going west on 18th and hits Bennett’s front wheel. “The car gunned it and ran us over,” he said.
The car struck the steel frame bike with a tandem attachment- designed to teach kids how to pedal—and both Bennett and his son went flying.
Bennett remembers seeing the car with a female driver hesitate when they hit the ground. Then she speed away.
He turned to his son. “I thought he was hurt seriously or, worse yet, fatally. Then he ran over to where I was laying on the ground moaning and calling for help and began to scream.”
Robby who’s helmet split on impact was left with minor scrapes and bruises.
“It was like an act of god he landed on his helmet and scraped only his right elbow,” said Bennett.
Paramedics and the San Francisco Fire Department showed up at the scene and took both father and son on stretchers to be treated at San Francisco General Hospital. After 12 hours in the emergency room Bennett found that among his injuries, he fractured his spine.
Injuries will keep Bennett off the bike and out of work as the Technical director for Moscone Center for up to three months and this concerns him. “ I am the single earner for family of four,” he said.
But Bennett says despite the accident he is not afraid to ride. When asked what he thinks about bike safety in San Francisco he said, “The problem is that a motorist by virtue of the size of their car or SUV make accidents lethal when they break the law.”
Bennett said he is aware of the safety concerns for bike riders in the city. He and his son were both wearing helmets and the bike had a orange safety flag attached at the time of the crime.
Bennett is asking people present at the time to help. “Many people witnessed the accident and gave aid but when the SFPD got interviews, the only people present had incomplete information. Bennett is hoping that someone who wrote down the car’s plate number will come forward.
If you have information about this case and would like to help contact Andrew Bennett.
p. 415. 939. 4700, email. mailandrewbennett@gmail.com
sorry to hear this, but i to was a victim of a hit and run on my bike this very same day near san franciscos glen park district, i fractured a rib and suffered a concussion, woke up in the ambulence, i to am asking anyone who knows any information to let me know, i just wanna sue, dont want to prosecute.
do they know if the PT cruiser was relatively new? this would be important because car rental agencies in San Francisco rent this car in large ammounts and only carry 2008 models. in fact alot of the pt cruisers in the city that i have seen are rentals, specially in the mission district. This would be important because we can track down the person who rented the car quite easily, ill tell the people in downtown to keep an eye for damage on a silver PT cruiser.