Not entirely clear on why i’m writing this. Partly to get it written down, probably.

Commuting in Queensland in the dark last week on a dead straight clear view quiet road a Mack Granite Truck loaded with earthworks equipment and trailer with another machine close passed me. There was a car coming in the other direction, but it was one of those holy shit moments.

A few km on I found the truck, as i’d expected, at the BP station. It was idling. I’d been rehearsing responses all the way, so I approached the cab, opened the door but the driver wasn’t there. I considered removing the keys, but in the end settled with turning the ignition off (it continued to idle).

I took a photo of the front of the truck and rode on.

1km down the road I had to cross a busier road to get to the safe forestry tracks. While i’m waiting to get across the truck pulls up behind me and the driver comes running up to me all excited yelling at me about touching his truck.
I got off the bike and asked if he knew how close he’d come and what he’d say to my wife and kids if he’d killed me.
“Nothing” he said.
He shoved me and i told him i had a photo of the truck. So he tried to get my phone out of my shoulder pouch. I resisted but he kept trying. I was trying not to drop my bike!
I kept telling him how dangerous his driving is and he calls me a ‘C’ and says he couldn’t see me and i shouldn’t be riding “at night. And I told the F’ing C that died an’ all” (referring to a prominent cycling advocate that was killed nearby when he was hit by a car)
I pointed at the big flashing rear light and suggested that if he can drive the three machines he has with him he should be able to see me.
Eventually he runs (literally) back to his cab laughing and saying he can’t wait to see the police report!

I rode off up the forestry road, set a PR (adrenalin!), then pulled over and sent the photo to the driver’s company Facebook account (he was wearing a logo) and to Bicycle Queensland.

By the time i get to work an hour later I have a message back with an apology asking me to call the Director.

When I spoke with the Director he was pretty friendly, he’d already spoken with the driver and was very unimpressed. He also told me that turning the ignition off was dangerous. The driver hadn’t realised and because the turbo timer was preventing shutdown when he drove off it could have shut down and he’d have lost all power steering and brakes whilst driving. I hadn’t thought of this, so felt a bit sheepish. Speaking with my Father-in-law (he’s driven this kind of truck) later on, he said it’s BS and there’s absolutely no way he could have driven without the ignition on (makes sense from a safety perspective obviously). He also told me that he was going to review the dashcam footage – which would have the confrontation on.

I’ve had a busy week, so haven’t thought much more about it. Now i’m wondering if I should report to the Police. I’ve done so in the past but they do very little without video. This is a bit more than just a close pass, though.

Yes, report it. Switching off the ignition of an idling truck left unattended isn’t dangerous. It should not have been left unattended, that’s the driver’s problem.

Report it especially if the director is coming out with bull shit, he doesn’t any the paperwork or the bad publicity.

Yes report it, can’t see anything being done Without video, beyond him getting a visit from police if you are lucky, but that alone might help change his attitude.

If he couldn’t see you is he fit to drive? Possible eyesight issue?

Saying he couldn’t see you should be taken as an admission of driving without due care and attention. Might be worth reporting the company to the HSE as well, if their trucks are that dangerous they shouldn’t be on the road.

Report it. Every. Single. Time. Not just for you, but for the next cyclist he endangers, or the next person he assaults.

The idiots and the Police need to understand that we won’t just roll over and constantly be the victims. Failing to report them condones their actions and empowers them.

Why do so many Australians have this attitude towards bikes?

Sounds terrible, but I don’t get the relevance of you turning the ignition off? I don’t see how that was going to do anything but inflame the situation?

Personally, I’d report it; especially as the director has said they should have dashcam footage of it.

Report it

He also told me that turning the ignition off was dangerous.

If it was really that dangerous, then perhaps the driver shouldn’t have left it unattended?

(Seems pretty irresponsible to leave a vehicle running and unattended)

if I was going to pick an argument possibly the best place to do it would have been at the servo – usually a lot of cameras – being potentially back in front of someone who has possibly seen you or been told you “touched my truck!” isn’t a great place to be (edit easy with hindsight)

Why do so many Australians have this attitude towards bikes?

job to do / drugs to take / long distances / congestion in cities…been here a few years and still don’t get it but hatred is pretty intense…

recall (can’t forget) a logging truck giving horn blasts and a close pass as descended a hill taking middle of lane on a pretty crap road …but unusually wide road…nothing coming other way…an easy pass…caught the driver unlocking the gate to a yard a couple of km’s later…said “what was that all about” response “F U next time I’ll kill you”

can give other similar examples 🙁

Report it, nothing might come of it, but it builds up if more people do the same…not that I’m intentionally trying to get folk in trouble, but if they are breaking the law, then it needs to be called out.

Turbo timers do let stuff run with no ignition

I’m not sure if they have a kill switch or what stays powered up. but the guy might be right.

I’d report it. That way they might just get a tug or a call from the police. Might make them more aware of their shitty behaviour

Phone the director back and ask him if it’s company policy to leave their vehicles unattended, running with the keys in and if they have made their insurance company aware of this and btw, who are their insurance company. Sit back and watch Director back pedal at speed. Ask if driver will be let go for assaulting someone whike in company time.
And report to police.

You might want to consider a letter to whomever licences or authorises LGV operators in that part of the world too. It’s difficult to do a managers job if you are found to be incompetent by the licensing authority.

I wrote this in a different thread yesterday:

A few weeks ago I wrote about an altercation I had with an extremely aggressive bus driver. I followed up and eventually found out who the operating company was (it was a London red double decker). After an email exchange with the MD I had confirmation that the driver in question was fired. I’ve never previously had to resort to complaining but, in this instance, if I’d not stopped cycling I would have been run over so I felt that the appropriate outcome happened.

Sounds terrible, but I don’t get the relevance of you turning the ignition off? I don’t see how that was going to do anything but inflame the situation?

I too am a tad confused as to why you did this. It would clearly aggravate the situation. Saying that I would’ve 100% taken the keys and left the **** stranded

This is why it makes sense to carry a valve core remover…

Why do so many Australians have this attitude towards bikes?

To be fair, 90+% of those that pass me go really wide. I think particularly where I live where there was a guy killed a couple of years ago by a drugged driver, people have been better. I’m not in a city.

I don’t get the relevance of you turning the ignition off? I don’t see how that was going to do anything but inflame the situation?

It was a snap decision when he wasn’t there to talk to. And I mean talk, I’ve done it with some drivers and they tend to apologise in the end. It partially had the desired effect in the end, which was to call him out for his bad behaviour.
And I wasn’t especially intimidated by him. I think once he realised he couldn’t get the phone off me he felt a bit stupid. At one point we were inches away from each other and he was shorter than me. I doubt he expected to confront a 15 stone guy that rides 120km of mainly dirt each week.

Turbo timers do let stuff run with no ignition

I’m not sure if they have a kill switch or what stays powered up. but the guy might be right.

From what I can tell they “should” be connected to a kill switch on the parking brake. If that’s released it overides the timer.

I’d rather the guy was educated than sacked, and i’m glad there wasn’t any serious violence by either of us. Luckily my riding buddy doesn’t commute with me as he’s a martial arts instructor and has already told me what he’d have done in the situation… probably not good for the dashcam!

Anyway, I’ve reported it via the Police cycling incident reporting webpage and from experience will get a call in a day or two. I think the concept that he could do more damage to me or someone else, or even look out for me another time is enough to have this on record.

This is why it makes sense to carry a valve core remover…

This is a very bad idea, laden trucks will shoot the core out. If you’ve not done it before eyes or a life could be lost.

… and I have a massive knife in my backpack anyway 😂

I think the OP has to take some responsibility. Not for the close pass, that is clear cut and should be reported. Everything that happened after that was down to the OP looking for a confrontation.
When you got to the truck and opened the door, what do you think would of happened if the driver was in there?

As I said above I was going to explain how dangerous his actions were.