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news
Cyclist hitches ride (taken from YouTube).jpgVideo: Australian cyclist grabs hold of truck to get a tow
Remember the Manchester cyclist who tailgated a tipper truck at 40mph or the Brazilian cyclist who filmed himself doing 124km/h behind a lorry? This cyclist in Perth, Australia, took the more direct route of simply grabbing hold of a truck and hitching a ride.
The West Australian reports that the incident took place on the Great Eastern Highway in Ascot at around 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Motorist John Richards said the cyclist also caught up with the truck at lights for a second attempt.
“The guy comes out of nowhere on his bike… then he hangs on to the back of a lorry, it’s like something out of a video game.
“He started weaving about and I started thinking about the consequences – that truck’s got 18 wheels on it and there’s all this traffic around us.”
Richards said that traffic backed up behind the cyclist as drivers were reluctant to pass.
“They couldn’t overtake the lorry because they weren’t sure what the guy on the back was going to do. Potentially I could have hit him,” he said.
Road Safety Commission acting Commissioner Chris Adams said:
“At the end of the day, it’s incredibly dangerous for a number of reasons – including unexpected braking or acceleration – but in this case the danger is exacerbated by the fact that the bloke doesn’t even appear to be wearing a helmet.”
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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17 comments
There's a bike lane this nonce could/should have used.
How, when the truck isn't allowed in the bike lane?
Most dangerous thing in that still pic is the diesel particulates bellowing out of the truck exhausts. Scary stuff. That'd knock you out of the breathing game if you got a lungful of that.
"he came out of nowhere" ...
Lol, that's the bit that made me smile.
He came out of nowhere, wtf, is the guy with the dashcam high?
I think 50% + of people must have done this at some time, I certainly did when younger. And i drafted a bus this very morning.
Wow - so Australian bikes come with a special teleporter fitted? Nice
cloaking device, all cyclists have cloaking devices, but no control over when they are on and when they are off.
Must be the case is despite what you wear and where you position yourself it seems random whether drivers will notice you.
Cloaking devices, eh? Can a vehicle that small have a cloaking device?
(Would explain a lot, mind...)
Maybe it's time Australia started being a dick to cyclists.
Oh wait, whut?
There's a Darwin Award set aside for this guy.
The trams in Edinburgh are so slow as to negate the benefit of holding on to them, which is a shame.
We all draft the odd bus or lorry but I don't think I'd be holding on!
I used to do this sometimes when I was much younger, until once I got a sudden tug and nearly fell off. I realised then that it was quite dangerous.
my tow of choice was the handle on the platform of a routemaster bus when i was a teenager, until the driver tried to squeeze me against the kerb one time.
Been going on since at least the fifties - here's the proof (at 1m:11s in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJ7cq6T3v4
I saw two blokes in Marrakech doing this on rollerskates. Their hopping between buses, vans, cars and trucks got them into town ahead of me in a taxi.
Skitching (that's the proper name) is fairly common as far as I know.
Because a polystyrene helmet would make so much difference when you're under the wheels of 18 Wheel HGV.
No because something about a helmet means you always act sensibly, which is why you never see a politician wearing one whilst making a totally irrelevant statement <sarcasm>