HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind. — Two people, including a teenager, were critically injured Thursday evening when a motorcycle and a bicycle collided in Hendricks County.
A Hendricks County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said the crash happened on Raceway Road, south of County Road 300 North, which is on the Hendricks-Marion county line.
Investigators said the teenager and the motorcyclist both went to Indianapolis hospitals.
On Friday, a sheriff's office spokesperson said the girl's condition is now said to be stable.
The sheriff's office told 13News they believe the motorcycle was headed south on Raceway Road when the crash happened. Investigators are still working to figure out what led to the wreck.
13News spoke with a woman who lives across the street from where the crash happened. She didn't witness it, but was there in the immediate aftermath and said she was horrified to realize the teen involved is someone she knows.
"It, uh, broke my heart ... sorry," said Jessica Burdine, breaking down in tears. "I said, 'Has anybody checked if she has a pulse?'"
Burdine recalled asking the teen's father, who she said she also recognized, in part because she often sees the father and daughter riding their bikes by her house.
"Very often they cross this road right here to go to the B&O Trail and ride, and that's what they were doing," Burdine said.
They never made it there Thursday.
"He was just praying and yelling, 'My baby girl!'" Burdine said of the teen's father.
When Burdine checked, she said the teen had a pulse, but was never conscious. She said the man on the motorcycle who investigators said hit her was also lying on the ground.
"I told him he was going to be OK. He was able to say his arm hurt," Burdine recalled.
For Burdine, the memory of what she saw Thursday still haunted her hours later, especially when she thinks about how many times her own kids ask to cross that same street.
"I got six kids myself, and they always want to go to the trail, and we don't very often because I don't want to cross the street," Burdine said.
According to Burdine, traffic goes too fast in the area, and she think some kind of sign or blinking light needs to be put up to slow drivers down.
Police said the crash investigation is ongoing.
Hours after the crash, neighbors along Raceway Road started a petition to add pedestrian safety measures in the area.
It is calling for speed monitors to be installed and a lighted crosswalk to access the B&O trail entrance.
“This neighborhood is full of kids. My kids play soccer right here and it's scary because the cars race up and down this street,” said Christi Burdine, who lives on the corner near Raceway Road.
She is hoping this heartbreaking tragedy is a wake-up call for her community.
“Slow down. It could be your kid,” Burdine said.