A father questions the safety of a Nelson single-lane bridge after his daughter was knocked off her bike in a hit-and-run.

Chris got a call from his daughter, Madie, whom he never expected.

“Dad, can you come get me, I was hit by a car.”

The fifteen-year-old student was walking down Maitai Valley Rd towards Nelson on her way to rowing practice at 5:40 a.m. on September 12, when she saw car headlights approaching her from behind.

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Madie wore hi-vis goggles and had lights on the front and back of her bike.

The student had just crossed Gibbs Bridge when she was “violently” hit by the car from behind, causing it to fall on the road.

“It was like something huge hit me,” she said.

As Madie was lying on the ground, the car started without stopping, despite losing her mirror on impact.

Madie received scrapes and cuts to her face, hands, elbow and hip from the fall, and had to be “patched up” after the incident. She is currently on the mend, successfully passing all of her practice exams.

A police spokesperson said police seized a car that matched Madie’s description, but investigations into the incident are ongoing.

“It is unacceptable for a driver to leave someone injured on the side of the road, and the victim and his family would like answers,” Constable Jemma Radcliffe said on the report. font ten 7 program on Thursday evening.

Chris said Gibbs Bridge was dangerous.

He did not believe that the one-lane bridge would be able to handle the increased traffic caused by a controversial real estate development, which involves the construction of 350 houses in the neighboring Kākā Valley region.

Chris disagreed with a January report that examined the traffic impacts of the proposed development, which said that while the development would increase the use of the bridge, the additional traffic would not be a safety concern.

Chris cited his daughter’s accident as proof of the danger of the one-lane bridge. He hoped that a serious accident would not happen due to the increase in traffic.

“The Gibbs Bridge is not safe now and will be even less so as traffic increases.”

While not fundamentally against the development, Chris said he doesn’t think the developers have given enough detail to the board and the community.

“I’m pretty happy that the development is going ahead, given that things are being done well.

“The main concern is that the road infrastructure is woefully inadequate.”

One of the developers of Maitahi-Bayview, Andrew Spittal, said that according to the latest advice given to them, the Gibbs Bridge does not need to be widened and could cope with the increased traffic from the proposed village of Maitahi.

However, they were “proactively” looking for ways to provide transportation to the city by separating cyclists and pedestrians from cars.

“Our preferred option is to build two new bridges for pedestrians and cyclists only, one at Gibbs and one at Jickells to separate cyclists and pedestrians from existing traffic.”

Spittal said his vision for the development of the Kākā Valley included ways to reduce traffic movements. By “designing for the future” they planned for a community that would rely on less car use, not more.

“We want to leave the environment better than we find it, and that includes our approach to traffic management.”

Spittal said he wanted to voice his concerns to Chris and Madie and agreed that safety on bridges for cyclists and pedestrians was an issue.

“I can fully understand Chris’s concerns as a parent.”

Police would like to hear from anyone with information regarding a red Mazda with a missing mirror on September 12.