ST. LOUIS — A cyclist was hospitalized last week after being the victim of a hit-and-run incident on Gravois Avenue.
On May 30, Mike Taylor was seriously injured in a crash involving a driver who fled the scene. He was on his bike around 7 p.m. heading home from work at St. Louis BWorks when a car came out of the QuikTrip parking lot on the border of Tower Grove East.
St. Louis Metro Police are still investigating the incident that happened while it was still light out.
According to Taylor's co-workers at St. Louis BWorks, the driver hit Taylor, stopped for a second and then sped off.
The crash left Taylor with eight broken ribs and an extreme amount of road rash.
Mike spent four days at SLU hospital leaving him with a significant amount of medical debt.
Taylor's co-workers at St. Louis BWorks told us he was biking home from work, a non profit that teaches children ages 8 to 18 about bike mechanics and safety. That was when a driver whipped out of the QuickTrip then left the scene.
A BWorks regular Don Wisman was stunned when he heard the news.
"But we live in a city where that guy, I bet he's still out driving," Wisman said.
Thankfully, a witness and paramedic responded quickly to remove Taylor from under a parked car where he slid from the crash near the intersection of Gravois Ave. and Arsenal Street.
"The person who does that, I feel sorry for them too because they must not feel like life is very meaningful or they wouldn't do that," Wisman said.
Unfortunately, this has happened before.
Co-workers at Bworks telling us that they've had five students and/or teachers hit in the last few years. Accelerating rates they say over the last two decades.
Trail Net Policy Catalyst Charles Bryson advocating for pedestrian and cyclist safety points to the Complete Streets Bill to do more with safer pathways for bikers, especially when they're teachers like Taylor.
"They know how to navigate the streets of our city," Bryson said. "What I hope happens is some aggressive work by our police department and our circuit attorney. People need to be held accountable for this activity."
A GoFundMe page has been started to help Taylor with medical costs associated with the crash.