Taken out by flatbed truck

[LeicaM4]

Hi all I have a favour to ask, yesterday at approx 12:40 ish I was riding my cycle on the A6075 (Cocking hill) heading towards Boughton/Ollerton as I approached the junction which goes into Boughton Industrial estate, Boughton, Newark, I noticed a flat bed wagon white in colour emerging from this area onto the road I was cycling along.

I continued heading in the direction of travel, as he came over to my side of the road, he intentionally closed the gap to me, he accelerated and continued to aim his flat bed at me, the front of the truck was by now ahead of me and I was riding on the very edge of the highway, he then moved the vehicle nearer to me closing my exit completely. At this point the rear third of this truck collided with me knocking me off and leaving me laying in the carriageway. He made no attempt to stop and continued on the A6075 Cocking Hill towards Ollerton.

This incident has left me mentally traumatised fortunately I sustained only cuts and bruising, I realised after the event I could quite easily have been killed, my bike also sustained damage.

I informed the local police who attended and took my details as well as those of a wonderful lady who stopped to check I was alright. Given the circumstances I didn't get the registration I did notice it had a highways maintenance sticker on the rear tailgate area.

I know it's a long shot but I thought I'd post this on here in the hope a member may work there or have been in the area at out near the time.

[Spinners]

Glad you're OK physically and I can well understand your anxiety.

Hope they catch the scumbag!

[tim-b]

Hi
If I've understood your description then I'd get you/the police into the Industrial Estate ASAP because you'll probably find CCTV cameras at various premises and they'll need to ask that the tapes aren't recorded over
A weekend rideby might even reveal the truck parked up
Get better soon
Regards
tim-b

[LeicaM4]

I saw that the area proclaims it is covered by cctv as well as anpr cameras (even better) i'm just praying that they are working and yep the local officer I spoke to was made aware but was aware.

[pwa]

Glad you're OK physically and I can well understand your anxiety.

Hope they catch the scumbag!

+1 Not much use to you, but I'm glad you were able to walk away from it.

[Vorpal]

A virtual tour (Google maps 2011) of the estate reveals at least a couple of vehicles that could match that description.

One is here https://www.google.no/maps/@53.2077277, ... 312!8i6656

As above, it's likely safer to explore the estate outside business hours, for example a Sunday afternoon, when there are fewer folks around.

[eileithyia]

Glad you are ok(ish).
Certainly ensure the police follow this up with CCTV etc.,
Talk to a solicitor who may also have the powers to request CCTV.

[pwa]

While nobody was actually mangled in this incident it does rank up there as one of the most serious. From the description it sounds like it was luck that saved the OP from an untimely end.

[LollyKat]

Deliberate assault.

[LeicaM4]

Thanks to all those who took time to read and post, feeling better than I did and looking back at the incident I honestly don't know how I survived, it was certainly nothing I did that enabled me to. I was incredibly lucky, this individual wanted to harm me and I fear for his next potential victim. I've not as yet had an update from the OIC I'm hoping that I will over the weekend.

Like most folk on here, every time I go out the door I have a min of 2-3 close passes and north of 20 at worst on every ride which involves a road, this though is my worst ever experience.

[Johnocyprus]

What a shocking thing to experience, thank goodness you were have no serious physical injuries. Like all here on the forum reading this I am sickened at what happened to you and wish you well.

[pwa]

Well done for reporting this. People taking the trouble to do that are doing the rest of us a favour.

[Phil Fouracre]

Sounds horrific! I don’t want to ‘rub salt into the wound’, but, surely you could have avoided it happening at all. You say that you saw the lorry pulling out, so why not slow down? Always assume that you either haven’t been seen, or are being ignored, maybe he misjudged your speed? If I read it correctly, from your description, the lorry was swinging out from your right, and going in your direction of travel, you seem to have carried on riding, into an ever diminishing space! The vehicle would have travelled in an arc towards your side of the road and then straightened up; did he aim it at you, or was the trailer simply travelling along the arc? Why keep going, if you were already on the ‘very edge of the highway’? I’ve every sympathy with your plight, but, surely self preservation trumps ‘right of way’ every time?

[Ivor Tingting]

From what you've writ it sounds like the driver tried to kill you, it wasn't just a momentary lapse of attention or poor judgement. I would get a GoPro or similar and start filming the dangerous sections of your ride. If you can afford a Leica M4 you can afford a couple of GoPros. Also get an Airzound. They are bloody good and work. Carry a D-lock just in case any of these motons decides to get out and take a pop at you.

And make sure the plod follow up the possibility of CCTV footage pronto. They didn't when I was hit and run despite me subsequently discovering a flock of cameras less than 1/4 mile away from where I was hit shortly after which without doubt would have recorded the car passing by fractions of seconds before it knocked me down and did not stop. I was livid that plod closed the case after about 10 days for lack of evidence. You might have to do a bit of leg work yourself as plod are generally useless. Good luck.

[LeicaM4]

Sounds horrific! I don’t want to ‘rub salt into the wound’, but, surely you could have avoided it happening at all. You say that you saw the lorry pulling out, so why not slow down? Always assume that you either haven’t been seen, or are being ignored, maybe he misjudged your speed? If I read it correctly, from your description, the lorry was swinging out from your right, and going in your direction of travel, you seem to have carried on riding, into an ever diminishing space! The vehicle would have travelled in an arc towards your side of the road and then straightened up; did he aim it at you, or was the trailer simply travelling along the arc? Why keep going, if you were already on the ‘very edge of the highway’? I’ve every sympathy with your plight, but, surely self preservation trumps ‘right of way’ every time?

Just to clarify, I had just about passed this junction when this vehicle entered the carriageway, the were no vehicles travelling towards me. He aimed his truck at me, I was initially 2-3 ft from the verge edge as he accelerated alongside me and onwards, he continued to narrow the gap until it had gone completely, this carried on until his rear third of the wagon hit my handlebars and took me out.

I wondered how long it would take for someone to blame me for this incident and not the psycopathic driver intent on injuring me.