Watch – ‘People perish’: Truck driver pleads for patience on roads after shocking dashcam footage captures near miss
A Nelson-Tasman truck driver is pleading with motorists to be patient after he captured shocking dashcam footage showing a car coming mere meters away from “going underneath” an oncoming truck. The truck driver, who Newshub has agreed not to name, was carrying a heavy load up Kerrs Hill on Kerrs Hill Rd, south of Nelson, on Wednesday when an impatient motorist dangerously overtook him. “I was going quite slowly up the hill, about 20km/h because of the heavy load,” he told Newshub.
The truck driver said he glanced in his mirror and saw a white vehicle beside him. “[An oncoming] truck was already coming around the corner and was coming down the hill towards us,” he said.
(C) Provided by Newshub
He said the overtaking car only “just made it” back into the left lane. In the dashcam footage, the driver can be heard swearing at what he just witnessed.
He told Newshub the decision to overtake was “stupid and just unnecessary”. The driver said while he sees dangerous manoeuvres from motorists a lot, many of them don’t end tragically – but some do. “I have seen it before, where a car (has gone) underneath the truck and people perish.”
The truck driver of eight years is now pleading with Kiwi motorists to take their time, saying truck drivers aren’t “deliberately trying to slow” others down. “People are only saving themselves seconds or a few minutes by dangerous manoeuvres like that,” the driver said. “I understand that we are going very slowly, but that’s because of the weight that I had.
On the earliest opportunity, we always pull over.” The truck driver said the danger will continue until Kiwis change their driving behaviour. In a statement, police told Newshub they are “appalled” by the “disregard” some motorists show for the safety of other road users.
“Police urge motorists not to attempt risky overtaking manoeuvres when they don’t have sufficient clear road ahead to complete the manoeuvre safely,” a spokesperson said. Police encourage anyone who witnesses dangerous driving to report it to police, including the registration plate number and make or colour of the vehicle “so that we can conduct follow-up enquiries and hold offending drivers accountable for their actions”. The truck driver said the incident has been reported to police.
Watch the dashcam footage above.