The husband of a motorcyclist badly injured in a crash on the Garden State Parkway Monday morning is pleading for any witnesses to come forward in helping locate the driver who allegedly cut her off, then took off.
Joan Mernick was riding her motorcycle on the Garden State Parkway in Woodcliff Lake when a driver cut in front of her, hitting her tire with the back of the car, according to her husband. Merick crashed, and the driver kept going.
Mernick is out of ICU at the Hackensack University Medical Center after doctors removed her spleen, but her recovery will take several weeks, her husband says.
"She still has a crack in her shoulder," said John Mernick. "They just took her down for more X rays this morning, they don't know if they are going to operate or not."
Joan told her family it happened so fast that she was unable to get a good description of the vehicle. Now her husband and state police are looking for witnesses.
"I just want a face for the crime. Take responsibility," said John, who has been married to Joan 25 years.
John says his wife is an experienced rider and was able to lay the bike down to avoid even further injuries. He said her helmet and armor protected her. Joan already wants to get back on the motorcycle but he's nervous.
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"I'm the one who always does the stupid stuff, and I'm the the one who always takes the risks," he said. "In 25 years, I have never said no to her, and I feel guilty now, when she said she wanted to get her own bike and her own license and stuff."
Despite being in the hospital, Joan's spirits are up, John said.
