The cousin of a single mother who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run in Lower Hutt on the weekend said it was "disturbing" that the driver had immediately fled the scene.

Anna Chesterfield was on a pedestrian crossing on High St, Taita shortly after midday on Saturday when she was hit by a car whose driver did not stop.

The 37-year-old was taken to Wellington Hospital where she remains in ICU in a serious but stable condition.

Her cousin Nicky Wilton, who has created a Givealittle page to support Chesterfield's recovery, said the family were disturbed and angry about the incident.

"I come from a family where honesty pays, and we always try to do the right thing," she said.

"I would think that people would have the same care that we would, that if something like that happened you would want to stop and make sure that the person was okay.

"I know that some of the family are a bit angry that they just left her there."

Wilton believed Chesterfield may have been returning from the shops or the station when she was hit by the vehicle.

"It just makes you aware of the impact of speeding, I guess you don't realise the severity of it until something happens to someone you love.

"Hitting a pedestrian, imagine if that was a child."

Wilton said Chesterfield is the single mother of two primary school-aged sons.

"Anna's got a lovely soul and a lovely heart, she cares about people and she's got two children and as far as I'm aware, is a single mother," she said.

"Definitely a bit disturbing to think someone could have hit a mum and left her two children as orphans."

The money raised through the Givealittle page would go towards supporting her sons while she recovered, as well as with ongoing medical costs.

Fortunately Chesterfield's injuries did not appear "as serious as first thought" but she would still have a long recovery ahead of her and would be in surgery on Monday, Wilton said.

Local shop owner Kostas Kadrasos said he saw the car moving, then saw Chesterfield lying on the ground.

He said the car turned around slowly before leaving the scene.

Members of the public rushed to help Chesterfield and put a blanket around her as she sat shaking for about half an hour.

Kadrasos was shocked at the length of time it took for emergency services to arrive - estimating it was about half an hour before anybody showed up.

"Where's the services? Where's the amublance, where's the police? I'm very disappointed with the services," he said.

A Wellington Free Ambulance spokesman said they received a report of the incident at 11.46am, and were on scene 20 minutes later at 12.06pm.

"As a service we prioritise if someone had life threatening injuries, we would send the closest or quickest ambulance or vehicle."

He said the quickest ambulance would have been sent to the scene.

An earlier police statement said officers first received a report of the hit and run at 12.10pm.

Police are still looking for the grey Mitsubishi Diamante believed to be involved in the hit-and-run, and are asking for members of the public to contact them on 105, quoting file number P045322349, if they have any information.