Wellington cyclist '30cm from death' after near-miss with Countdown delivery driver

A Wellington man said he was 30cm from death when a Countdown delivery driver sped past him and through a pedestrian crossing.

James Sullivan, 35, told the Herald he was out running errands on Sunday, cycling down Adelaide Rd in Berhampore when he approached a pedestrian crossing. A woman with a young baby was also approaching the crossing, so Sullivan came to a stop to let her cross.

"I saw her face change, and then before I knew it this truck blows past."

Caught on Sullivan's camera, the Countdown-branded truck blasts straight past him, so close he says it brushed his jacket, and straight through the pedestrian crossing.

He said it happened so fast he didn't have time to register what had occurred.

"Certainly, after the fact I was scared, when I figured out if I had been 30cm to the left I'd probably be dead."

Jarrod Smith, Countdown's eCommerce national logistics and network manager told the Herald safety is the supermarket's "absolute priority".

"Yesterday's incident is certainly not what we would expect of our delivery drivers. We're incredibly sorry for what Mr Sullivan experienced and are looking into what happened with urgency."

While it's not the only close call Sullivan has had, he said it's the closest one yet.

"The main thing I'd like to see happen is for council to get on and start making changes to the road allocation so cyclists and pedestrians aren't having to go and take vehicles one on one when they're doing 50km/h.

"There are changes that can be made that are politically painful but relatively cheap."
Sullivan is running for Wellington's city council in the Takapū/Northern General Ward.

Part of Wellington's long-awaited Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) proposal is to improve walking and cycling paths across the capital.

LGWM includes mass rapid transit, a second Mt Victoria tunnel, removing private vehicles from the Golden Mile, and other walking and cycling improvements.

It has previously been agreed the Government will pay for 60 per cent of the project and local government partners will pay for 40 per cent.