Riding a bicycle may be a great way to improve health, save on transportation costs and reduce a person’s carbon footprint, but it comes with its fair share of risks as well.

This past Friday, world class cycling champion Macey Stewart suffered injuries after being hit by a car in the middle of a training ride, reported Yahoo! News. As if being hit by a car wasn’t bad enough, the driver also fled the scene after the running into the cyclist.

The 18-year-old Tasmanian was just 10 minutes from home after three hours out on the road when she was suddenly hit from behind by a car. She was thrown from her bike into the road and had to scramble out of the way of an oncoming truck.

Without bothering to ask if she was OK, the driver of the vehicle got out to retrieve his side view mirror, which had been knocked off, and then quickly sped away from the scene.

Stewart was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries. With x-rays revealing no broken bones, the cycling champion was off to training camp in Adelaide bright and early the next morning.

Stewart’s incident was the second of the sort in just two weeks in the area, and Tasmania isn’t the only place that’s seen a sudden spike in cycling crashes.

A report issued by the Governor Highway Safety Association last week revealed a 16% increase in bicycle deaths in the United States between 2010 and 2012, with California and Florida ranking the highest in injuries and deaths, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Bicyclists face a higher risk of injury from road accidents than passengers in other vehicles, even though only 1% of all trips in the U.S. are taken by bike. The study found that two of the main reasons for this continue to be alcohol use and lack of bike helmets. The Los Angeles Times reported that over two thirds of bicyclists killed in 2012 weren’t wearing helmets, and that almost 30% of bicyclists over 16 years of age that were killed in a crash had a BAC greater than .08%.

The study suggested that the best way to avoid injuries and deaths from cyclists colliding with automobiles was to separate the two by creating more bike paths in urban areas.