Shocking video of light truck driver ramming cyclist off bike sparks 'debate' online

It doesn't matter if the cyclist was all over the road, but from what I saw he wasn't, but it still doesn't matter; it doesn't matter if he was in the wrong lane, that's a situation that requires a ticket given to the cyclist; what matters is that the truck saw the cyclist, knew he was there, and repeatedly tried to intimidate him before deciding to hit him, that is a deliberate attack.  No one is entitled to take the law into their own hands and deliberately injure or kill a person for not doing anything that was dangerous to others.    It is all our responsibility to avoid an accident no matter who was at fault, and it was the driver of the truck responsibility to avoid an accident no matter who's at fault, he had plenty of time to avoid the accident, the driver could have even gone into another lane and avoid the cyclist entirely, but instead, he chose to hit the cyclist and cause bodily harm.  This is about intent.  The driver of the truck should be locked up for a couple of years and the cyclist be given a ticket for being in the wrong lane.

For those wondering about the Jasper Carrot sketch in which he talks about swerving several times before I managed to hit him, watch the clip below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxMjeWj3O7g

I regularly see very aggressively anti cyclist posts, advocating harm to cyclists, on such discussions, I have taken to occasionally suggesting in reply that with such uncontrolled anger they are too unwell to drive on the public road and should post their licence back to the DVLC immediately and seek help untill they can be declared medically fit enough to return to driveing. More seriously perhaps we need courts to take Internet history into account when judging serious road traffic cases and where abuse of other road users is apparent the offence should be treated and punished as a hate crime.

Oh good grief, people: did some of you have to be quite so desperate to disprove my earlier comment about the return of civility? <face palm>

You can only hope this cowardice psycho contracts covid and suffers a painful death, his medical treatment being refused, and even turfed out by his own family.
Or atleast, just hope the court is as outraged, as we are, and throw the card at him.

Yet another arsehole of a human being driver, that should have been drowned in a bucket, moments after emerging from his mothers birth canal.

Sounds like NZ police are doing the job! I think even UK police would wish to speak to this driver about 'not entirely considerate driving' and would plead with him to not do it again too often. The quotation from the article:

The truck driver claimed the rider was "all over the road"

brought back memories for me. It was exactly the phrase used by the Garstang Show tractor driver when I caught up with him after he so nearly killed me by dangerous  driving. It's something such nutters often say when it's completely untrue, but because they're dim they don't appreciate that any genuinely fair legal system would judge them to have been guilty of dangerous driving on their own admission. 'Do you mean that you saw a cyclist was wobbling and you just decided to drive hard at him at speed?'

If someone ran into the road with a baseball bat and knocked a rider off I'd expect a charge of premeditated assault as a minimum. Presumably carrying a custodial sentence? This is arguably worse than that...

The "I had to serve several times before I finally hit him.." quote is from Jasper Carrott insurance claims, for those who are old enough...

The existance - or not - of a cycle lane - and whether or not it is useable - are not really relevant

Put it like this

If a Mum and toddler walks starts crossing the road and you are driving a car - but she has misjudged you speed and if you do nothing you will hit her and the kid

do you

a) slow down or swerve - whatever it takes to avoid hitting them

b) keep going - it is a road and pedestrians shouldn't be on it

c) speed up to make the collison more effective - gotta teach these idiots

equally if another car is coming towards you on the wrong side of the road

etc etc etc

The 'Prime Directive' is always to avoid a collision - however much of an idiot the other person may be - in your opinion

Avoid

a

collision

doesn't matter whether you are on a bike or in a car

just don't hit people

end

Effing hell.

Have the Christchurch authorities explained why they allow parking in cycle lanes, which is what seems to be why the cyclist was riding in the road instead?  Same old story; put in crap and no-one uses it, put in good stuff and almost everyone uses it.

Doubtless this will lead to calls for such cycle "facilities" to be made compulsory, while not banning cars from parking in them of course.  Hopefully, the eminently sensible newly re-elected NZ PM will resist this.  Of course, if she's really clever, she'll withdraw the helmet law.

The driver needs to be sledgehammered to death.
Start at the feet and work up.