Arthur Meyers' lucky escape on the Tutaekuri Bridge near Awatoto recently is enough to send shivers down the spines of the Bay's cycling community.
The Whakatu man was cycling south over the bridge on State Highway 2 when a truck heading in the same direction moved too far left on the narrow bridge.
"I'd travelled about 45 metres on the bridge. There was a 10-wheeled truck and he had a problem with an oncoming truck ... He passed me and my shoulder was rubbing on the rail and I was trying to keep my front wheel from dropping into a 3 to 4cm channel on the road."
Mr Meyers' front tyre caught in the groove and flipped him over the handlebars on to the middle of the left lane.
He said it was only seconds between the truck completing the pass and coming off his bike. Any earlier and he could have ended up under the wheels.
His helmet and face took most of the impact. He escaped with a split nose and lower lip, serious bruising on his thigh and a banged up bike.
Clive Community Constable Alan Daly, who turned up shortly after, said he was probably lucky to be alive. "Fortunately, he didn't go under the wheels of the truck."
The motorist behind the truck, Francois Sneedon, stopped his car and held up traffic until Mr Meyers cleared the bridge. Mr Sneedon said he could see the accident was going to happen as there wasn't enough room on the bridge to pass safely and the road's edge was "like a gutter".
The truck driver did not stop, but Mr Sneedon "used a bit of guesswork" to track him down and pass on his registration number to police.
Mr Daly said the truck driver thought he had safely passed the cyclist and did not realise what had happened. Police are considering action.
The New Zealand Transport Agency identified Tutaekuri Bridge as narrow and in need of replacement, and state highways manager Mark Kinvig said replacing it was a "long-term priority".
He said the bridge's structure could not accommodate a clip-on cycleway, such as that attached to the nearby Waitangi Stream Bridge in 2008. "We recognised in 2008 that improving safety for cyclists was more urgent, so we built a dedicated cycleway along the beach for cyclists to use safely ... This cycle way is well sign posted and we strongly encourage cyclists and pedestrians to use it."
Mr Meyers said the alternative was not always practical. "I've been on [that bridge] if not 100, then 1000 times and my hair stands on the back of my neck every time. I've had some close calls. The alternative is that cycle path that was all washed out. You'd have to walk it."
He said he thought he would be safe if he kept on the left hand side of the road's outer white line.
Robert Oliver, owner of The Hub Cycle Centre in Hastings, said cyclists more often "took their chances on the bridge" rather than use the alternative dirt cycle track.
"The average person might use it, but the bike riders wouldn't use it because of the risk of punctures and damaging their wheels."
Mr Daly, a keen cyclist himself, agreed the bridge was dangerous for cyclists and the alternative was impractical.
Cyclist lucky to survive crash on dangerous bridge
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