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Incident report
Hi all. Just putting it out there, if any of the riders on Pittwater Rd, narrabeen thru mona vale, this morning at around 11:30am, whom where the subject of a very deliberately dangerous, red "p" plate truck driver... In the bus lane... Myself and my wife observed plenty of examples of dangerous driving. I know a guy on an emc managed to get his numberplate before he sped off again... And he wasn't this truck drivers only target...
Feel free to contact me as a witness if any of the affected riders happen to be reading this.
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Go get 'im. NO excuse for that.
Did you get the truck's registration? If so, you'd be doing the cycling community - riders and their families - a huge favour by reporting this yourself, even without waiting for any riders to contact you.
Dangerous driving - especially where there are numerous instances by the driver - simply shouldn't be ignored.
What the driver gets away with today is what he'll try again; except maybe he'll give even less of a gap, go even faster, ...
Someone will get clipped, or worse. That person will suffer, as will their family and friends. It can be tough out there for some unlucky ones.
I cannot comprehend the thought process of these dumb arse people. If a pedestrian was walking on the road to cross it do they deliberately speed up to hit them? It's the same concept and I really don't understand why d##kh##ds in cars/trucks or whatever consciously make a decision to DELIBERATELY attempt to cause, or in many cases actually cause serious harm, to a fellow human being. Really gets on my goat
Sometimes people just have no clue what's going on around them.
Case in point; in heavy traffic today, trying to merge and the guy behind just will NOT let me move over. I'm running out of runway so HAVE to drift across, at which point the driver kaks himself and hits his brakes. All this at about 15kph. Deadlock traffic pace.
Clearly, he had no conception I was there at all, until the last minute.
Now, the point is - I was watching the driver in my rear view mirror all through this, and he was looking ahead and almost right at me. I was dead cert he saw me.
Yet - as shown by his last minute panic - he still missed the fact I was there until the last instant. Totally oblivious/unaware/unobservant.
The point of reporting these incidents is not so much to 'get back' at drivers (sometimes they're just 'dumb'), it's to make them wake up, and realise what they're doing (or not doing).
Regardless of intent, it's important to follow up and get TIN's issued where appropriate.
Knowing the results of disregarding rights to not feel under threat and making a cyclist feel uncomfortable can have painful consequences is an important part of encouraging culture change, much like the introduction of the sexual harassment and anti-discrimination laws a couple of decades ago.
Education can only go so far: some stick is required as well otherwise the recalcitrant element continues to act in what they see as their narrow self-interest and treat the vulnerable with contempt. Those who might have infinged through ignorance are motivated to pay much closer attention.
Unfortunately I can tell you from sad but true first hand experience that haters are out there, and there's not much you can do if they catch you by surprise: http://nobmob.com/node/11858
I now have a camera running when commuting.
Blooming 'ell, Hawkeye. Did a proper job on you alright! You all good now though? What came of the matter?
PS: On a lighter note; is that your post incident visage? Surgeon did a right stitch-up job on you if it is!
Some additional surgery will be required this year to remove the Ti bits from my hand and tidy up the scarring on my elbows. Shaking hands with strangers can be a bit nerve-wracking, as you never know whether the guy is going to try to "win" the handshake and make the bones rub together where the screws stick out the other side. So that can be socially awkward. Aches heaps in change of weather. One upside of the weather being consistently crap this summer is that hasn't happened so often this year.
Hoping that removing the screws and plate will resolve both issues.
The perp got 6 points off his licence: 3 for neg driving, and a further 3 for failing to stop and exchange insurance particulars. Not nearly enough for intentional vehicular assault but, as I said before, the issue was evidence to a sufficient standard to sustain criminal charges.
Biggest challenge has been resolving the anger management issues when - ahem - certain driving behaviours are experienced. The camera provides a channel to direct that emotion more constructively, and has been helpful.
The beak can't be blamed on the surgeon.
The responsibility for that belongs to my maternal grandfather 
Bless 'im!
You certainly haven't suffered any damage to your sense of humour! Best wishes for a complete and trouble-free recovery.