A pedestrian was hit by an e-bike near Copley Square in Boston on Wednesday and suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.

The crash happened at about 11 a.m. at the intersection of Dartmouth Street and Huntington Avenue, near the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel. The intersection and the e-bike were roped off by police tape Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said the pedestrian, a man, lay unresponsive in the crosswalk for several minutes.

Pedestrian hit by e-bike

"I'm very sad about that because I think they're great, I think it's helpful to the environment, but I didn't know they went so fast they could hurt somebody," said Lisa Hicks-Thomas, who was visiting Boston from Virginia. "That's sad, that's terrible."

The e-bike operator remained at the scene and cooperated with police, officers said, and will not be facing any charges. It appeared to be a delivery driver, with a case on the back that had food inside.

Boston police homicide detectives from the fatal collision reconstruction unit were investigating.

Area "a problem" for pedestrians

Another delivery driver, speaking in Spanish, said he can't imagine who is at fault since the crash appeared to happen in the crosswalk. He did say the area is tough and you can't go fast.

"People will cross even when you have no right to cross," said Layla Dannaoui, who lives nearby. "When you want to cross, it's very, very little time to do it and nobody is respecting the signs, nobody. We need more policemen, especially at this intersection. It's always a problem." 

Over the past few years, e-bikes and scooters have grown in popularity in Boston. But doctors said as the e-bikes become more accessible, there's been more injuries, including head injuries, broken limbs and road rash.

The state of Massachusetts doesn't have a clear set of concrete rules and regulations for e-bikes and e-scooters.

WBZ-TV has a reporter on the scene and will have more information as soon as it becomes available.