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Still taken from YouTube video of Joda Freight truck and cyclistCaught on camera: Terrifying incident involving lorry and cyclist on busy road
A recently uploaded YouTube video shows a lorry driving along inches – if not millimetres – behind a cyclist. As the two exit the shot, it appears that the truck begins to overtake the cyclist, allowing minimal space. The incident is thought to have taken place earlier in the week in Bradford.
The uploader, skip_1, describes what is seen as a truck ‘almost tapping’ a cyclist. “As they went past the cyclist waved at the front of the truck and shouted to the driver to 'F off'. Listen carefully and you can hear the cyclist shout through the open sunroof.”
No further information is given, but some of those leaving comments are of the opinion that the incident took place in Bradford.
The truck involved clearly bears the branding of a firm called Joda Freight who are based in Keighley. Road.cc tried to get in contact with them, but no-one was available for comment.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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61 comments
I don't buy that version of evens at all. The video gives no evidence as to how the cyclist ended up so close to the front of the lorry. As a lorry driver you make the assumption that "all" cyclists undertake and that's how he ended up there. As a cyclist I make the assume that all lorry drivers have at least 3 driving bans, a number of drinking driving convictions and probably don't hold the correct licence or any insurance and they like to go out of there why to put other people's lives in danger. (That assume has kept me safe on the road so far)
But that gets us no where really. The lorry driver shouldnt be driving his vehicle into a space he can't see, surely that is the most basic bit of road safety. It's clear that he has a downward facing mirror, why isn't he using it ?
The question was asked why was there a gap in the oncoming traffic. I've explained how that occurred with the video evidence..
"The video gives no evidence as to how the cyclist ended up so close to the front of the lorry." Eureka! ( An earlier post said the cyclist admitted undertaking but the video is inconclusive)
"As a lorry driver you make the assumption that "all" cyclists undertake." No I consider the possibility that they might and I have to look out for them.
" As a cyclist I make the assume that all lorry drivers have at least 3 driving bans, a number of drinking driving convictions and probably don't hold the correct licence or any insurance and they like to go out of there why to put other people's lives in danger. (That assume has kept me safe on the road so far)"
You should extend that to include all people and animals.
As a cyclist I ride with the attitude if I have an accident regardless of who is at fault I'm the one going to hospital.
"The lorry driver shouldnt be driving his vehicle into a space he can't see, surely that is the most basic bit of road safety." That's a good point.The driver unlike a cyclist cannot see his front wheels.
Latest truck designs bring the drivers position down to the cyclists level like the new London buses.
" It's clear that he has a downward facing mirror, why isn't he using it ?"
Why do you think the cyclist is still alive ?
I have to ride to work now and harass some cyclists with my truck.
"It's admirable that you want to give the driver the benefit of the doubt, but if he didn't know he was there why is there such a big gap between the truck and the car in front as it finally passes by the stationary car recording the event? The first few seconds of the clip show the oncoming traffic moving including, it appears to me, the Joda truck."
Because I'm observant...three vehicles ahead of the camera car is a white LGV. There is not enough room where the road narrows for that LGV and the Joda truck to pass. Oncoming traffic continues until the Joda truck stops and gives way to the white LGV. The white LGV continues as does the following traffic. 6 seconds into the video you can see the white LGV and the Joda truck with no gap in the traffic. 28 seconds in ,just beyond the 40 mph sign on the left, you see the shadow of the white LGV move forward. At this point notice there is no oncoming traffic because the Joda truck has stopped to let the white LGV through.
From either of the video's you can't say for certain that the cyclist was under taking and I definitely won't be taking the word of some fellow lorry drivers.
Regardless of the circumstances of how the cyclist ended I up there I wouldn't expect a 'professional'* driver to going out of their way to try and put another human being in even more mortal danger.
By *professional, I mean has at least 3 driving bans, a number of drinking driving convictions and probably doesn't hold the correct licence or any insurance.
I understand your scepticism, but you are still assuming the lorry driver knows the cyclist is there. We don't know that he does and the cyclist certainly appears to be in a position that would only be visible in one down-facing mirror, if that.
If the driver does know that the Person is there, they shouldn't be behind the wheel or the vehicle shouldn't be on the road. I understand that this is not generally accepted, because were happy that 5 people die on the roads every day and 60 plus are seriously injured. But I don't accept that.
@catfordrichard: aye, but if the cyclist really had slipped up the inside to that position, I'd expect that the lorry driver would have had no idea that the cyclist was there at all.
Of course, "he overtook me on the inside, not my fault" is much easier to say to to your colleagues than "yeah, I was driving like a c*nt, what a w@nker I am". It looks to me as though the lorry is traveling at a speed that would have made that manoeuvre by the bike unlikely - but the clip is too short to have any certainty at all.
One thing to bear in mind about cyclist outrage at this clip, though: enough of us think it likely that the lorry driver was acting dangerously because lorry-driving like that happens regularly...
The longer clip does show the lorry in traffic and possibly stationary, about 30 seconds before the incident. So it is quite possible the cyclist stupidly undertook him at that point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSBL87w7cGM
Having watched the longer clip I would suggest the cyclist undertook the truck while it waited at road works and it's unlikely the driver knew he was there. I once saw a Smart car being pushed sideways along the Marylebone road by an LGV in similar circumstances.
I drive a truck and I cycle to work. Truck drivers may intimidate cyclists by sitting on their rear wheel. It happens but, in my opinion, not it this case.
It's admirable that you want to give the driver the benefit of the doubt, but if he didn't know he was there why is there such a big gap between the truck and the car in front as it finally passes by the stationary car recording the event? The first few seconds of the clip show the oncoming traffic moving including, it appears to me, the Joda truck.
Deaths at work halved in last 15 years...
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/10/30/138...
Violent crime halved in last 20 years... http://www.poverty.org.uk/87/ah.png
While cycling stays as dangerous as ever... http://cyclinguphill.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2013-cycle-casualtie...
If the machinery in the clip were anything other than a lorry the HSE would be investigating immediately. If the person in fear of their life were anything other than a cyclist the police would be investigating immediately. Because it's a lorry and a cyclist it gets investigated by Joe Public on Facebook and the relevant authorities who could stop this happening are not remotely interested.
There are several Joda employees on the road.cc facebook comments who say that they have spoken to the driver who says the cyclist undertook the lorry. One even said that the cyclist phoned in to Joda and said as much himself.
If he did put himself in that position then he is an idiot and doesn't deserve much in the way of sympathy.
There is still the question of whether the driver knew he was there or not though. According to one Joda guy:
It's hard to say either way, but I suggest people are careful with those internet pitchforks.
But to use bad behaviour to meet bad behaviour is just stupid. If he had undertaken then there is still no justification for the truck to continue that close to the cyclist. lift off the accelerator and allow a gap to open up. Driving on the motorway this weekend I had lots of people pull across me into my correct 2 second gap, I didn't close right up to them because its ok because he put himself there. I backed off slightly allowed a safe distance to be established and then continued my journey without a second thought.
Interestingly coming through Deptford in south east London this morning not half hour ago I saw a red Joda artic lorry that was a touch keen to not stop at a give way in order to try and dodge in front of the traffic coming through a filter light of which I was at the front. Touch of accelerator then realised it wasn't on even though it never had been and then a heavy brake. I'd have basically ridden into the side of the trailer if he'd have gone through with it.
Anyone reported this footage to the plods or any plods on here going to take action on it and investigate? The driver needs to lose his HGV license.
Here is the stretch of road featured in the video in case anyone wants to take a nosey around in Street View:
https://goo.gl/maps/BZHKS
Yep as I keep telling cyclists, it's bloody dangerous mixing & mingling with very big moving machinery operated by complete strangers of varying ability and mental capacity. i.e. Humans. If it were a fairground ride it would be banned.
Yep, It is mostly motor vehicles operated by drivers that kill most cyclists. That's a no brainer. Of course it is. So what's to be done? How about self protection and don't do it. An obvious answer that cyclists just can't tolerate.
In this case, it was a horrible piece of road with no escape space. What appears to be a solid wall. What a terrible place to be on a bike. Will he go back the next day and do it again? You betcha!
What guts? And telling this big machine to 'F.....K off' too! Oh right. That sure sorted the problem.
Driver is risking killing the cyclist here, he should go to prison, dangerous driving does not get much more dangerous than this. It looks like at times the lorry is touching the cyclist.
It's the low level sun made the driver miss all that is on the road.
Terrifying.
At first, I'd criticised the cyclist for hugging the kerb. That being said, for all we know, the lorry might have pushed him that far in.
Prick needs dragging off the road (the lorry driver that is).
Sent a tweet to @BBCLookNorth it will be interesting to see if it makes the news!
The cyclist is in the drivers blind spot....puts tin hat on.
Sure. They key question is how the cyclist ended up in the driver's blind spot. Only two possibilities really - option 1: cyclist came up inside lorry from behind (stupid cyclist); option 2: lorry came up on cyclist from behind (criminal negligence from driver). Hard to tell from the video as it is so short and you can't see the context leading up to it, but it looks to me more like option 2, as the lorry appears to be coming up on the cyclist with a clear road ahead. I don't think the video on its own would be enough to prosecute though, you would need testimony/evidence from someone about what happened before the incident.
There is a longer video, but it doesn't add much to the context. Only thing I noticed was that a few additional cars seem to appear in front of the lorry from when you first glimpse it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSBL87w7cGM
The tachometer will record the drivers speed/acceleration/deceleration just prior. That might shed some light..
A key question might be: if the driver was genuinely unaware of the cyclist then why was he driving at the speed of a bike when he is in a 40 and the longer video shows a good 20-30 second gap ahead of him?
He didn't just magically materialise in the driver's blind spot though, did he?
Has Road cc been able to get a comment from this firm and have they spoken to local police in Keighley to highlight this video. ?
This is *West Yorkshire* police, who have a long record of strong hostility towards anyone on bikes.
They absolutely will not do anything about a report of this sort of thing.
Even if the victim himself reported it, he would barely be likely even to get the "courtesy" phone call to say that they would not be investigating.
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