A 21-year-old drift racer accused of causing severe injuries to a triathlete in a January crash on Tantalus Drive appeared Thursday at his arraignment in Circuit Court.

Taylor Liang stood before Judge Clarence Pacarro on a felony negligent injury charge in connection with the crash involving Lectie Altman, 34. The charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Deputy Public Defender Doris Lum entered a not-guilty plea on Liang’s behalf.

Pacarro set Liang’s trial for December. He remains free after posting $25,000 bail.

Altman sat in the courtroom gallery with friends and family members during the arraignment. She said it was the first time she saw Liang in person as she has no memory of seeing him at the time of the crash.

After the hearing, Altman stood with crutches and spoke to local media outside of the courtroom.

“I think it was just important for me to be here because this. I mean, this happened nine months ago, and it’s been a long time coming,” she said. “And I think it was important for him to see that there is a lot of people that care about this case and what happened. I know it was just the arraignment and plea, but the fact that there was all this support from friends and family here was really good.”

When asked about the penalties Liang faces on the negligent injury charge, she said, “I know there needs to be some sort of punishment.”

“This is an important issue in the community and in Hawaii in general. I mean, people could get hurt every single day, and these things that are happening are illegal and dangerous and I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” Altman added.

The crash occurred during the afternoon hours of Jan. 25.

Police said the driver was “drifting” and racing up the roadway when he lost control, veered onto the opposite side of the roadway and struck Altman, who was riding her bicycle.

She suffered severe multiple fractures in the crash and was hospitalized for a month.

Altman has two plates in her left arm due to a fracture, a plate in her thumb, broken fingers, a plate in her left hip, a partially broken pelvis and a broken right femur.

She underwent numerous surgeries with medical expenses mounting to nearly $1 million so far and is slated to undergo many more surgeries.

“It’s nine months later, and I’m still not walking without crutches. I have IV antibiotics that I have to give myself every single day, so it’s been a huge impact on my life. I mean, I’m up and moving and alive, and things could be worse than they are but they’re certainly not very good,” she said.

The city enacted a new law in May prohibiting drifting and drift racing in response to the crash on Tantalus Drive where drifting has been a problem for many years.

Drifting is defined as a “driving technique whereby the driver intentionally over-steers a motor vehicle, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels.”

Under the new law, violators face maximum penalties of $2,000 in fines, a year in jail or both.