SHOCKING footage captured the moment a lorry driver almost had a head on collision with a British holidaymaker in Belgium.
The impatient HGV driver was filmed driving in the middle of the road as he attempted to overtake a cyclist – but instead sent him flying into the grass verge.
The lorry driver can be seen careering around a blind corner – straight into the path of Luke Wiffen, from Cottenham, Cambridgeshire.
Luke was on holiday in Belgium and was driving on the N619 in the eastern municipality in Bassenge, close to the border with the Netherlands.
He admitted that after the incident he was “shaking” and the cyclist was also “shaken up”.
Luke posted the clip on Facebook with the caption: “Near head on with truck that takes out cyclist. What a wonderful end to the day. In my mirrors I saw the cyclist on the grass.
“Did the Cool Solutions truck stop? Did he f***.
“Which brought back memories of when I was first on the scene to a horrific vehicle cycle smash a few years back.
“By the time I was out of the car, he was up and on his bike again. Thank goodness.
“I turned around and caught up with him to check he was ok. I was called a ‘true gentleman’ – now there’s a first.”
The clip has been viewed over 4,000 times since Luke uploaded it last week.
The footage begins with Luke driving along the N619.
Moments later the blue truck can be seen driving on the wrong side of the road.
As Luke gets closer it becomes clear the lorry is overtaking a cyclist – on a blind bend.
Luke and the lorry come within mere feet of colliding with each other as the HGV has to pull in to avoid a crash.
According to Luke, the dangerous manoeuvre forced the cyclist to fall into the grass verge and pushed him off his bike.
Luke can be heard breaking hard and honking his horn, before exclaiming: “F****** t**t.”
Luke then pulled a three point turn to follow the cyclist and check that he was ok – and to offer him the footage.
On social media, John Quarmby joked: “Truck drivers don’t make mistakes. It’s the car drivers fault for being in his lane and not understanding that the truck can go into his lane if he so wishes. Closed case.
“Also the cyclist partly to blame for using a road that a truck driver wanted to drive down. If a truck driver is ever in the wrong (which they never are) in their defence they will just say: ‘Well how do you think everything that you buy arrives on the shelves?'”
While Michael Bell argued: “The truck has to move around the cyclist. He cannot just run over him. From what I see, it’s equal blame. The truck should have waited to overtake the cyclist. Just like you should have slowed down.”
Speaking today, Luke said: “To be honest I was shaking a bit afterwards. I looked in the mirror and the guy was lying on the grass. I moved forward slightly so I wasn’t on the corner.
“At that point I saw him getting up and onto his bike. I then drove on to where I could turn around, double backed, over took him and stopped ahead so I could flag him down and check he was ok.
He added: “He was a bit shaken up. I offered him the film but he refused it as he wasn’t hurt.
“The truck didn’t hit him because he crashed off into the grass to avoid being squished.
“He was a Dutch or a Flemish chap as his English was good, and not his French.”
Cool Solutions.be declined to comment.
