PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — He was run down on his bicycle last spring, but Dan Yablonsky survived and is slowly recovering after more than a dozen operations.

On Tuesday, he went to testify against the man police say is responsible.

Back in May, Yablonsky was riding his bike down Liberty Avenue when he was plowed over by a hit and run driver.

His legs, arm and pelvis shattered, Yablonsky – who spent three and half months in the hospital undergoing a series of excruciating operations – remains angry at the driver who fled.

“To collide with another human being in your 2,000 vehicle, your 4,000 pound vehicle, and leave them for dead, leave them like road kill,” said Yablonsky.

Yablonsky was in court today to testify against Beau Fishinger, who was arrested and charged with allegedly running Yablonsky down and fleeing the scene.

Lauryn Stalter was riding her bike only 10 yards ahead.

Stalter: “I saw the car approaching and moving so quickly that I turned around to see Dan get hit and fly over top of the SUV.”

KDKA’s Andy Sheehan: “And the driver just kept going?”

Stalter: “Yeah.”

According to the testimony of a city detective, Fishinger told police he thought he had hit a dog or a deer, but didn’t stop because he had been drinking and was driving that night on a suspended license.

Fishinger, who was sent back to jail with all charges intact, was ordered to stand trial. Yablonsky hopes some good will come of this.

Yablonsky: “Whatever comes out of this, it’s just going to protect everybody in the future.”

Sheehan: “Protect bike riders?”

Yablonsky: “Protect pedestrians; protect people who ride bikes.”

And that is the hope, that this case and cases like will make Pittsburgh a bike-friendlier city.

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Hit-And-Run Victim Works To Make Pittsburgh Bike Friendly (10/26/12)
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