A CYCLIST who captured the horrific moment he was almost killed by a Romanian lorry driver claims the culprit was allowed to flee the UK and will escape prosecution.
Dave Sherry’s video shows the reckless driver pass so close his bike is clipped and he is thrown into the road.
The 40-year-old was off work for six weeks and doctors told him he is luckly to be alive.
The London bus driver claims police later pulled over the lorry driver, took his details, and then let him go on his way.
According to Dave, from Harlow, Essex, this police “boo boo” means the driver is safely abroad and safe from justice. Dave is now discussing with lawyers the possibility of civil legal action against the HGV driver.
He was cycling in Epping, Essex, on January 11 this year, with a headcam and rear-facing camera running, when the incident happened.
An oncoming car beeps at the lorry who is crossing into the other lane with the intent to take-over, Dave can then be seen gesturing with his hand for the lorry driver to stay back.
Shortly after the driver begins to overtake Dave but appears not to have given himself enough time to escape oncoming traffic.
The driver then starts beeping his horn and begins pulling back over to the left hand side of the lane.
As the front of the lorry pulls in front of Dave the tail end of the lorry bashes into the cyclist, sending him crashing to the ground.
Dave can be heard screaming “ahhhhhhhh” and “motherf*****” and calling the driver a “s***head”.
A nearby ambulance almost immediately appears and paramedics tend to his injuries and help him up from the roadside.
Dave said: “I was just on my way home from work as a London bus driver so I know how much room you need to give a cyclist to pass.
“The oncoming car was sounding its horn and flashing its lights so the lorry pulled back and narrowly missed that head on.
“I heard it revving its engine again so I gestured for it to stay back because I could see the oncoming traffic, but it overtook me regardless.
“As it moved back over to the left it knocked me off my bike.
“I honestly thought I was going to die.”
Dave praised the quick work of Essex Police in getting the licence plate of the lorry and beginning the hunt for the driver.
But he believes things went wrong because the driver was in Kent by the time officers, from Kent Police, caught up with him.
Dave claims officers have admitted that, while the lorry was pulled over, the job was not done by a traffic unit and the correct procedures were not followed.
Dave said: “The police didn’t ask the right questions and he can’t be interviewed again for the same crime now so they’ve made a farce of it.”
“Luckily they managed to identify him before he got to the port at Dover.
“He told police he didn’t see me and left the country.”
“These foreign drivers can get away with murder.
After recovering, Dave uploaded his footage of the incident to Youtube.
One viewed claimed: “That was obviously deliberate.”
Another said: “Ouch – what a p***k.”
Another said: “Crikey, what a ridiculous overtake.”
A spokesman for Kent Police said: “On Friday 12 January 2018 officers from Kent Police stopped a lorry on behalf of Essex Police in relation to a collision the previous day.
They took the driver’s personal details and interviewed him based on the requests made of them by Essex Police officers, who were provided with a record of the interview in order to assist with their enquiries.”
A spokeswoman from Essex Police said: “We were contacted about a collision in which a lorry overtook a cyclist and clipped the rider.
“The lorry was located using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology and stopped the following day in Kent.
“The driver was interviewed and denied any knowledge of the collision.
“Officers reviewed camera footage, which showed there had been a collision. But it was not possible to establish how it occurred based on the footage and conflicting accounts.
“We will investigate any incidents, regardless of where drivers are from, and take action to deal with any criminal offences when there is sufficient evidence to do so.”
