BRADENTON, Fla. — The Bradenton Police Department is asking for the public’s help to find the driver in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Saturday.
The incident occurred at about 11:25 p.m. in the 1000 block of 14th Street West.
A 36-year-old man was crossing 14th Street on his bike when he was hit by an unknown vehicle traveling southbound, police officials said.
"I talked to the guy for like two minutes then he was gone... I try to ride at night because it's less traffic and then this happens," Christopher Gendreau, Bradenton resident, said.
The driver didn't remain on the scene. Investigators don’t have any information on the make or model of the vehicle involved.
Anyone with information about this crash is asked to contact the police department at 941-932-9300 or submit tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers by clicking here.
So far this year nearly 5,557 Bicyclists were involved in a crash, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
"It's absolutely a concern. The state of Florida is one of the, if not the most deadly places to ride your bicycle, and it shouldn't be. It's an ideal place to ride your bike, between warm weather year round and just really great places to see and visit and enjoy. And yet, we continue to see people being killed by other people," Courtney Reynolds, President of the Board of Directors for the Florida Bicycle Association, explained.
Reynolds said education surrounding bicycling plays a crucial role in saving lives.
"I'm really proud of a recent program that we did in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation to put money into schools that were educating little kids, so elementary school kids and high school kids and talking about bicycle safety, and they actually earned $2 for every child that took that, that that quiz and passed," she added.
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