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Melbourne hit-and-run driver (screenshot)“What kind of disturbed, inhumane individuals do that?”: Double hit-and-run suspects were “laughing” after mowing down Melbourne cyclist
A Melbourne cyclist who was run over by a hit-and-run driver and left with life-changing injuries, leading to Australian pro cycling legend and Tour de France winner Cadel Evans to speak out against "bad attitudes" of drivers towards cyclists in the country, has revealed that he heard "laughing" from inside the car as it swerved to deliberately hit him.
In an incident that has left the cycling community in Melbourne reeling, two cyclists were the victims of two deliberate hit-and-runs last week, with the police suspecting that both of them were committed by the same driver.
51-year-old Glenn Gibson, a father of three, was cycling on Beach Road in Cheltenham, in the south-eastern part of the city last Tuesday at 5:20am, when he was hit by a driver and has been in the hospital for a week.
His wife, Nancy Gibson, was told by the doctors that it's a "miracle" that her husband is alive. While he has been able to start walking with the help of crutches, his spine will "never be the same again".
She told 9News that her husband had been going over what happened with her, saying: "The first few days every time Glenn opened his eyes, he relived the images of the car coming deliberately swerving towards him, and mowing him down, then he heard them laughing.
"They were laughing! After the event! What kind of disturbed, inhumane individuals do that?"
She said it was hard to find words to describe what happened or digest that people could be so "callous and cruel".
Another hit-and-run was also reported just after Mr Gibson was run over in the same area, with a 72-year-old male cyclist taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The police suspect that the group responsible were in a stolen car and deliberately targeted both the cyclists.
Although they fled the scene, a video from inside the car was shared anonymously on social media. In the footage which has now been taken down, the cracked windscreen of the car is visible, and the person who posted it added yawning emojis to the video mockingly.
Victoria Police inspector Scott Dwyer has called the images "disgusting" as the force continues to investigate both reported incidents and the video.
One of Mr Gibson's friends has called for swift justice and dared the perpetrators to confess. "I would hope that justice would be served sooner than later," he said.
"They can't hide forever, if they're going to be stupid enough to put stuff online. Fess up."
The local cycling community also expressed disgust at the incidents. Edward Hore, the Australian Cycling Alliance's president said that the sharing of footage online was "cowardly".
"I was shocked ... it's just really upsetting that people would go out of their way to harm someone like that, someone going about their business," local cyclist Karen Gittins added.
> Melbourne driver involved in “allegedly deliberate” hit-and-run with cyclist arrested
Last week, road.cc reported that one of Australia's most famous cycling sons, 2011 Tour de France winner and 2009 world road race champion, Cadel Evans spoke out about the danger cyclists face on the roads of his home country.
Cadel Evans on the last day of 2011 Tour de France (copyright PhotoSport International)
The retired cyclist suggested that Australian drivers "lack awareness and concentration" and have "bad attitudes" towards cyclists, and that building more cycling infrastructure is just one part of the puzzle with "more education about cyclists' rights to use the roads and longer, more comprehensive driver training" needed.
"I think attitudes and education is actually more important than infrastructure," he said. "Around the world you see varying attitudes towards that and I was kind of hoping that things in Australia were improving, but evidently not... so of course the [Melbourne hit-and-runs] are really disappointing in that regard.
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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12 comments
I hope the cops do track down the morons in the car and give them penalties that meet the crime.
Government ministers support drivers who use vehicles for assault on people using bicycles. If they didn't, they'd do something about it.
When these people get tracked down and arrested, they'd better be facing attempted murder charges. It'd be no less if they used any other offensive weapon in such an indiscriminate and psychopathic manner.
Terrorism charges, or hate-crime, maybe?
Another extreme example where I suggest the criminals have their taste buds and libido removed.
Only when criminals like this face real consequences for their actions will they think twice.
"I think attitudes and education is actually more important than infrastructure"
I 100% agree but its one of those arguments that is very much "how I wish things were vs how they actually are".
The reason infrastructure is more important right now is because drivers simply cannot be trusted and there seems little desire to change that in the near future. You don't need amazing cycling infrastructure in the UK if drivers were better. But they're not and they aren't going to get any better any time soon.
If I could snap my fingers and one of the 2 things would magically be fixed it would be driver behaviour every time and twice on the weekends.
100% agree.
Sadly, sadly true, MC, and it is the same across the pond here in the U.S., and I would expect in Australia, as well. But it must also be noted that in many places law enforcement and the media aren't doing much in the way of education to change the troublesome attitudes and are often making attitudes worse. Witness the widespread opposition to lower speed limits from both right and left despite this being a simple step in the right direction of saving lives and encouraging cycling.
The gutter press in the UK actively drive a wedge between cyclists and motorists. It gets clicks from all the sad little gammons who want to tell the world how much they hate cyclists.
I've said this before but hate against cyclists is probably the most acceptable discrimination in the country today. You wouldn't hear anyone but the most racist of pricks saying "I fooking hate blacks and asians" but you will hear even the most normal person rant and express their hatred of cyclists and no one bats an eyelid.
Its well known that language leads behaviour so why is it so socially acceptable to be derogotary about us? Why can people see a video of a driver putting a childs life in danger and their takeaway is to attack the parent. Its madness.
It has been widely reported that drivers in Australia view cyclists as less than human, and treat them accordingly, and it doesn't appear to be any better in other car dominated societies. The recent rash of deranged comments about cyclists being knocked off demonstrate that attitude clearly.
Most, if not all, of those views are caused by, or at least encouraged by the media, almost all of it, with articles so grossly biased that if they were about any other subject, they would be just laughed at. If such things were said about gays, coloureds or women, they would likely be prosecuted, but cyclists not only have no protection on the road, they have no protection in the media.
In my experience, it's almost socially acceptable for Australians to be openly racist against native Austrailians, so I guess that their bigotry just extends to cyclists (and also the low-income groups which are often referred to as Bogans)
recent rash of deranged comments about cyclists being knocked off
There was one up here, on the Nextdoor social app. The complaint was that cycle lanes in Preston are blocked leading up to traffic lights by cars just driving onto them. Then someone pipes up that the terror cyclists are then riding down the adjacent pavement instead making it more difficult to drive across the pavement to the road, then another moron comments: fit a camera so you can show it's their fault, and drive into them!
quite, Infrastructure is easy to control with political will and money, education is a little harder, as it takes time to filter through the system, but attitudes are almost impossoble to control. Especially with larger sections of the media pushing an agenda of driver supremecy and dangerous cyclists.