He was Nuts – Almond Gardens

Perth, Australia

21 May, 2024 - 2 years ago - on West Coast Drive
Heading south on my normal coastal commute, I heard a horn behind me, and saw an old Ranger Ute and trailer coming up fast from behind. There was no room for it to pass me into a roundabout, but it did so anyway.

I banged on the door as it squeezed me, which caused it to drop back for a moment. It was so close the advertising for "Almond Gardens" and its "0413526332" phone number were clearly visible on the side of the Ute

It then followed me so closely, around the roundabout with North Beach Rd, that I was forced to pull over to the left in front of other traffic, to avoid it.

I gathered my nerves for a while and set off again, not knowing he had parked up in a layby to the left, just after the roundabout.

He came out into the road and I tried to avoid him, but he clothes-lined me in the neck, in the middle of the road. In the second video, from after I pulled up to let him pass, you can see the jolt from the impact of the hit, and him spinning around after it behind me.

I had bruising and whiplash, but was lucky I didn't come off my bike. I didn't go that way again for a while.

The public register for the business name shows the assailant was Michael Almond of 7 Rountree Way, Marmion.

Despite the video the police wouldn't prosecute and said I might be charged for his claim of damage to his car door (there was none). I challenged this decision and got a review and he was issued a penalty for a close pass, but nothing for the assault.

After this I got a cycliq front camera to add to the old rear one.

The lack of action by the police appears to be because I didn't have a witness or front camera footage. As Police treated it as an assault only, when they decided there wasn't enough evidence to take that to court, they closed the case without considering the evidence for the preceding traffic offences.

So if the police don't act on something, it is worth following it up!.

Mike’s Story from Australia

What happened next? Read the follow-up UpRide Story

Incident location

193 West Coast Drive, North Beach Western Australia 6020, Australia

Incident details

Date of incident: 21/05/2024 06:12AM
Reported outcome: Fined 800 and 3 demerit points
Incident type: Close pass/Bad driving
Location of incident: West Coast Drive, North Beach Western Australia 6020, Australia