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Father injured in hit-and-run while on bike in Old Lyme, driver at large

"Him and the bike just went flying, pretty crazy. My first thought was, he's dead," said Billy Ainsworth, who saw his friend get hit by the car.

OLD LYME, Conn. — Connecticut state police are investigating a hit-and-run that happened in Old Lyme on Sunday evening. A bicyclist was hit by a car on Shore Road around 6:30 p.m.

Police said the car continued towards the highway after hitting the man and they are now trying to figure out who was behind the wheel.

"I basically heard it whoosh past me and by the time I heard it, it hit him and it was one of the scariest things of my life for sure," said Billy Ainsworth of Columbia, who was riding his bike with his friend Justin Sparks, when Sparks was hit.

RELATED: Torrington police looking for hit and run suspect after 12-year-old girl injured

"I was a few feet behind him and a car swerved right into the break down lane and literally hit him probably going 50 miles per hour. Very, very scary," Ainsworth said. "Him and the bike just went flying, pretty crazy. My first thought was, he's dead. Like I was completely freaking out," he said.

Fortunately, Sparks survived but suffered quite a few injuries, including a large gash on his head.

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The crash happened on a busy road but the two men were riding in the shoulder. Many people don't know the laws around sharing the road with cyclists, according to Bike Walk CT, a local non-profit that aims to make Connecticut better for biking and walking.

"It's state law that you're supposed to give a bike rider three feet or, three feet or more as you pass," said Jim Jinks of Bike Walk CT. He continued, "The person responsible for my safety as a bike rider is the driver they need to be paying attention to what they're doing."

RELATED: Suspect arrested in fatal hit and run crash: Waterbury police

This time, the crash almost took the life of a father.

"Be careful when you drive your car around bikes," said Dakota Sparks, Justin Sparks' son.

While there's no description of the car or the driver, Sparks' loved ones hope whoever hit him comes forward.

"Maybe they talked to somebody and somebody knows something or they'll see it on the news themselves and he's OK they didn't kill anybody so maybe they'll turn themselves in," Ainsworth said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Connecticut State Police Troop F.

Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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