Terrifying footage captured the moment an entire group of cyclists was sent crashing to the ground on the side of a busy road after the lead rider was clipped by a car.
Miraculously, no one was injured during the incident, but that doesn’t make the video any less scary to watch.
The cyclists were whizzing along a shoulder in Newcastle, Australia, when a grey Honda was seen approaching the group before clipping the lead rider, sending him tumbling into the other cyclists.
In the footage, captured back in 2018, the lead rider crashed into the main road, but was able to scramble back into the shoulder.
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A post accompanying the clip read: “'Fortunately, no one [was] critically injured. Horrifying is the only way that this crash can be described. It is unbelievably lucky that there were no life-threatening injuries or deaths.”
Two of the cyclists attended hospital for tests while others suffered bad rashes.
Police eventually fined a 31-year-old man $464 (£269) and he also lost three points on his licence.
Here in the UK, a man was fined £1,100 last month for passing a cyclist 'extremely carelessly'. Footage from a headcam showed a Range Rover driver coming just inches from smashing into a cyclist.
Barry Field, 59, was issued with a fine for driving without due care and attention after he sped past a moving cyclist on a narrow road.
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The incident took place on Oakley Wood Road in Bishops Tachbrook, Warwickshire, and Field was fined after the footage was handed to Warwickshire Police’s Operation Snap team, a unit that hunts down dangerous drivers using footage from everyday road users.
The cyclist, who has not been named, said: “I know there are bad drivers and bad cyclists out there but all I want to be able to do is go for a ride and come back home safely to my family.
“His impatience could have killed me. Bad cycling mainly causes annoyance to people but bad driving results in five road user deaths a day.”
PC Ken Bratley said: “Fortunately the cyclist was not injured and on reviewing the footage there is no doubt that this was an extremely careless pass.
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“Cyclists are much more vulnerable than drivers in cars and that’s why the Highway Code has been updated asking drivers to give cyclists more care and attention.
“This includes waiting behind a cyclist until it is safe to pass them and leaving at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds."
Topics: Cars, Viral, World News, Australia
Aisha Nozari