Noble Park hit-run: Police appeal for driver who hit cyclist to hand …
A woman has handed herself in to police after she allegedly veered into the path of a cyclist in Melbourne’s south-east, leaving the man with cuts and bruises. Robert Clarke, from Pakenham, was cycling on Douglas Street in Noble Park at 6.40am on Thursday when a white car passed by. Police allege the driver initially stopped to allow the 59-year-old cyclist to pass before accelerating toward him, mounting the kerb and hitting him.
Clarke fell off his bicycle and landed on the road, while vision shows the driver continuing on, dragging the twisted metal of the bicycle for another 130 metres. A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said a 40-year-old Dandenong woman was arrested on Monday after making herself known to police. She is currently assisting investigators with their enquiries.
Clarke received grazes and bruises and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Pakenham cyclist Robert Clarke, 59, speaks to the media after he was the victim of a hit-run. Credit: Nine News In an interview on Nine News, Clarke wiped away tears as he described the emotional toll the hit-run had taken. It was the second time he had been injured in a hit-run, he said.
“I cycle everywhere, and you know the dangers are there. But you always keep to the left and do the right thing, wear a helmet, have lights … ” he said.
The wreckage of Robert Clarke’s bike after the hit-run in Noble Park. “I heard the acceleration behind me and I thought, ‘here’s another smart arse, they’re going to rev, scare me and then keep going.’ And the next thing, the world was spinning.
“I get a lot of abuse on the road as a cyclist, and this one hit me.” When asked what his advice for the driver was, Clarke said: “Hand yourself in, give up driving, don’t reproduce.” Police say the car was a white Mitsubishi Lancer, believed to have been built between 2008 and 2017.
The sedan was last seen being driven north-west through the intersection of Douglas Street and Heatherton Road. Before the woman handed herself in, Greater Dandenong highway patrol sergeant Jerome Ithier said there had been no altercation between the driver and cyclist before the collision. “I’m appealing for the driver to hand [themselves] in.
What you’ve done is deliberate, it’s dangerous, it’s reckless. We’re just very fortunate … no one was killed or seriously injured as a result,” he said. “Anyone that partakes in this particular behaviour should not be on our roads.”
Police believe the Mitsubishi may not have been bearing any registration plates.
Investigators have released CCTV footage and an image of the vehicle believed to be involved.
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