Texan woman hit by 4x4 after sprinting across highway to ‘prove she could run fast in high heels’

A woman was knocked down by a 4x4 and seriously injured as she sprinted across a motorway access road to prove “she could run fast in heels”.

Police said the woman had almost crossed the road in Austin, Texas, when she struck by the vehicle and dragged about 15 metres under its wheels.

The driver of the vehicle, Felipe Hernandez, was arrested for failing to stop after hitting the woman, who suffered a “brain bleed and needed immediate surgery”.

The victim and her sister had left a bar shortly before the crash at 2.30am on Saturday, the Austin American-Statesman newspaper reported.

The woman declared that she could run in heels and, before she could be stopped, is said to have promptly darted across an access road to Interstate 35 to prove it.

Following the crash the driver sped away in his GMC Yukon “until it was no longer in view”, witnesses claimed.

Police identified the vehicle nearby about 20 minutes later.

Mr Hernandez told officers “he knew he had hit someone, and proceeded through the northbound service road light, made a U-turn, and sat in his vehicle crying before returning to the scene”.

He has been charged with failure to stop and offer help.