Countdown has apologised after a Wellington cyclist came close to being thrown off his bike by a speeding delivery truck in a shocking incident that was all caught on camera.
Wellington local James Sullivan was on a bike ride on Sunday when he stopped to allow a woman and baby to cross at a zebra crossing on Adelaide Road in Berhampore.
"I saw the pedestrian coming up to the crossing, so I stopped because I felt it was safe to do so," he told Newshub.
But little did Sullivan know a Countdown delivery truck was speeding up from behind.
"Before I know it vroom!"
Footage captured by Sullivan's bike cameras shows the moment the Countdown truck failed to stop, speeding centimetres past Sullivan on his bike through the zebra crossing just as the woman and baby were about to cross.
"[I was] terrified in a sense because it was a lot closer than I had thought and there was also a lot of distance the truck could have stopped in."
He said it's the closest near miss he's experienced while he's been a cyclist, but he told Newshub it happens too often.
The Wellington local plans to file a report with police today.
Countdown's eCommerce national logistics and network manager Jarrod Smith apologised for the near miss.
"Safety is our absolute priority and yesterday’s incident is certainly not what we would expect of our delivery drivers. We're incredibly sorry for what Mr Sulivan experienced and are looking into what happened with urgency."
Sullivan thanked Countdown for its response but believes it should shoulder some responsibility too, "to make sure that drivers do not have a schedule so tight that they're encouraged to drive needlessly aggressively".
He told Newshub the reason he has cameras on his bike and uploads the footage to Youtube is to show "what is unfortunately very common".
Sullivan said just last week he was punched by a taxi driver after he cycled past the taxi.
Have you had a close call with a truck or delivery van? If so contact us at news@newshub.co.nz
