Survivor Speaks Out After Drunk Driver Slams Into Couple Riding Bikes

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- An investigation is underway in Anne Arundel County after police say a drunk driver slammed into a young couple riding their bicycles in Annapolis. A survivor of that horrifying crash is now speaking about the ordeal.

Mike Hellgren has more on his emotional words.

He says he's still in a fog. His girlfriend's mother says her daughter had her trachea cut. She's now being fed through a feeding tube.

Todd Green has trouble walking and cuts and bruises. Despite the outward scars, he remembers little about the terrifying moments when police say a drunk driver slammed into him and his girlfriend, Katie Pohler, as they rode their bicycles near Annapolis Saturday.

"Then everything just kind of went black," Green said. "And I remember waking up, I believe a good Samaritan was there helping us, covered us in blankets. They tried to get us on the same helicopter, but they had to rush her out for her serious injuries, life-threatening."

Police say Robin Colbert, 54, was driving a Nissan Ultima. Her blood alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit when she veered into Green and Pohler, who were in bike lanes on Route 450--part of the Baltimore Annapolis Trail.

"I really wish I could swap places with her and be in the hospital and have her be out here talking to everybody," said Green.

The chief says Colbert was not charged at the scene. He says that's policy to avoid double jeopardy and her walking away with a simple traffic ticket.

"She would have satisfied her citations by paying the fine. We never would have been able to go back and charge with additional crimes," said Chief Kevin Davis, Anne Arundel County Police.

There have been five crashes involving bicycles in the past week alone in Anne Arundel County. Police are still looking for the man who severely injured a cyclist in Davidsonville in February.

"This sort of an outcry for what can be done to improve safety," said Jon Korin, Bike AAA.

Pohler's recovery is going to take a long time. While her boyfriend can't remember the accident, he knows that instant changed both of their lives forever.

"As soon as her father said my name, she opened her eyes and she smiled at me," Green said. "We're going to try to get her back on her feet and get her quality of life back to what it was."

Police are also cracking down when it comes to enforcement. By law, you are supposed to stay three feet away from bicyclists. Pohler has already gone through more than seven hours of surgery.

There have been no cyclists killed in Anne Arundel County this year. There were two in 2013.

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