Salt Lake man on scooter says driver hit him at a crosswalk and took off

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City man who was injured when a vehicle hit him while riding his scooter is urging drivers to pay attention.

Tomas Fernandez was riding his scooter Tuesday to class at Ensign College when the car hit him while he was on the crosswalk at the intersection of 100 South and State Street, near City Creek.

Fernandez lives downtown, just five minutes from school, which is why he uses his scooter to get around.

He said the crosswalk light indicated it was safe to cross traffic. 

He didn’t make it all the way across. He said a driver hit him and then took off. 

“It was our turn to cross with a couple pedestrians and this guy just took a corner really fast,” Fernandez said. 

No one else at the crossing was hit or injured.

“I luckily was able to like jump forward and roll on the ground,” Fernandez said.

The crash put his scooter out of commission with a broken kickstand and flat tires. He said his scooter was worth anywhere from $800 to $900.

“You can really threaten people’s lives,” Fernandez said.

He favored an injured leg when he told KSL TV the crash left him bumped and bruised.

Salt Lake City police said the crash is being investigated as a hit-and-run.

“Some scooter drivers, they are not very careful sometimes, but most of them are,” Fernandez said. “Drivers need to be more careful. There’s a ton of people on their phones, sipping their coffee. I mean, you’re driving. You really need to pay more attention to what you’re doing.”

Fernandez said he’s getting married in December and he needs to get well before then.  

The vehicle has been located but police were working to identify the driver.