'It could have been so much worse': Public come to the aid of elderly women hit off bike in hit and run

The incident occurred at 2.20pm on Thursday at the intersection of Kennedy and Riverbend road. Photo / File

Onlookers are surprised an elderly woman on her bike was able to walk away from a hit and run incident in Napier on Thursday afternoon.

One of the people who stopped to help the woman said she was lucky she had been wearing her helmet.

"There was no way the lady in the car didn't hear anything because I could hear the thud from inside my car," Hope Hatton said.

"The way she hit her head on the ground it could have been so much worse."

Police said they were called to the scene of the incident at the intersection of Kennedy and Riverbend Rd, about 2.30pm on Thursday. Investigations were continuing.

Hatton said when the lights went green the biker was going straight while the car, a red car similar to that of a small hatchback, was turning left.

"I'm not sure why the car even went, she obviously didn't check her blind spot when she took off," she said.

Police said they were called to the scene following a third-party report of a car and a bicycle colliding.

She said it all happened so fast and initially thought the woman had been run over by the car.

"I just remember seeing the red car take off and the poor lady lying on the ground.

"At first I thought the car had run over her so I panicked and jumped out of my car to help but by then she had already managed to get up and get herself and her bike to the footpath."

Hatton said she tried to call an ambulance for her but the woman didn't want any fuss and said that she was more in shock and upset about what the driver had done.

Although the driver that caused the accident fled straight away she said a man in a ute at the intersection managed to catch up with the vehicle to get its registration.

"A guy in a Mitre 10 ute took off to chase the car and managed to get its rego, he even came back to see how the woman was," she said.

Although the woman didn't want any help many were worried about how she was.

"She was covered in scratches and cuts and was bleeding quite a bit," Hatton said.

"She even mentioned to me she had hip surgery not so long ago."

Another woman, who did not want to be named, said she walked with the woman to the Marewa shops and was surprised she wasn't worse off.

"When I was walking with her she had a bit of a limp," she said.

"She will definitely be feeling it, but I just hope she is doing fine because when I replay it back it could have been so much worse."