A cyclist who narrowly escaped being dragged under a semi-trailer has left Australians divided over who is to blame for what happened.
The 58-year-old cyclist fell on the corner of Montague Street and Lorimer Street in Melbourne during rush hour on November 26.
Shocking footage showed the cyclist yielding to the semi-trailer as the driver moved into the merging lane before entering the highway.
Seconds later, the cyclist panics as his rear wheel becomes trapped in the underside of the truck and is dragged several meters down the road.
He loses his balance when his wheel is crushed, but manages to stagger forward and land on the trail, injured but out of danger.
The cyclist was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
The driver who captured the scene very close can be heard honking the truck’s horn as they followed the semi-trailer onto the highway.
The images left Australian motorists divided over who was to blame.
The cyclist was trapped in the bottom of the semi-trailer during the very close
“It’s the cyclist’s fault,” one person wrote.
‘That’s why (cyclists) don’t belong on our roads. That’s not the trucks fault…’ another person wrote.
“The fascinating thing about trailers is that they are a long, rigid body that doesn’t bend…the interesting thing about cyclists is that there is a pedestrian path right there and it doesn’t appear to be a bike lane,” a third person added.
Others disagreed, saying the truck driver should have waited for the cyclist to enter the intersection first.
“The bicycle has the right of way, the truck has cut off the bike lane,” one person wrote.
“The motorcycle was in front at the beginning and the truck caught up with it, and the truck is practically on the sidewalk,” another person wrote.
“Everyone blames the bike guy… he was where he was supposed to be, the truck would have seen him before he got to the corner,” added a third commenter.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that officers later spoke to the 75-year-old truck driver and that investigations into the incident are ongoing.
The clip shows the cyclist stopping at the crosswalk to give way to the semi-trailer (pictured left) as the truck enters the merge lane to proceed onto the freeway.