More Whangārei motorists report scary encounters on SH14 toward Maungatapere

Motorists around Maungatapere feel unsafe because of a male driver reportedly targeting the area. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Fears a motorist is targeting women travelling on remote stretches of Northland roads have gripped a small rural community.

The Advocate recently reported how a mother and daughter driving from Whangārei to Dargaville with two grandchildren in the car were forced to hide in a stranger’s driveway after their vehicle was followed late at night.

Since then more women have come forward to share their alarming and similar experiences in the Maungatapere area. Many descriptions of the car involved match. However, police have not shared any details of the vehicle but did say they are continuing to make enquiries into the incidents.

One woman said she had encountered the man twice on Mangakahia Rd; both ordeals had left her shaken.

The worst was on September 22 when she and her two daughters, aged 3 and 5, were walking down their driveway. As the 5-year-old neared the letterbox ahead of the others, the woman said she saw the familiar car slow down and almost come to a complete stop by her daughter.

“I screamed at my daughter to run away.”

As the woman ran to her daughter, she saw the man quickly look back as he heard her yell. He then sped off, she said.

“My life flashed before my eyes ... I was so scared I wouldn’t get to her before he gets out of the car.”

The woman said both she and her daughter are still frightened by the encounter. Neither want to walk to the letterbox to check the mail without the woman’s husband anymore.

“It has made me feel so unsafe,” she said.

Less than a week earlier, the woman and her family had been travelling along Mangakahia Rd behind the same car, which she said had been slamming its brakes on in front of them. Her husband passed the man, who suddenly sped up and came up the side of the family’s vehicle.

“He saw my husband and then backed right off,” she said.

A second woman said she had been travelling along Mangakahia Rd around 4am on Tuesday last week when noticed car lights behind her.

She didn’t think too much of it until he began tailgating her. She said he was so close at times, she couldn’t see his headlights.

“ ... He was attempting to pass me and swerving towards me in a manner like he was trying to push me off the road.”

The woman tried to stay ahead of him as she thought of how close to home and safety she almost was.

“As we came up over a rise and round a small bend in the road he just stopped on the wrong side of the road,” she said.

“I was absolutely terrified. My heart was pounding, I was shaking.”

The woman believed the man is familiar with the area because where there was no cellphone coverage where the ordeal took place. However, it returns at the place the man stopped his car.

Both women reported the incidents to police. The first heard back 12 days later and the second woman is still waiting for police to contact her.

They believed the man was targeting women and feared what would happen if police did not act soon.

“Our community is angry and scared as we don’t who or when the next target will be,” the second woman said.

“Is it going to take someone to be seriously injured or worse for the police to do something?”

The Advocate understands an officer has been contacting those affected as part of their enquiries.

When approached for a statement, police repeated their advice for anyone concerned about unsafe driving behaviour to pull over in a safe place and contact police.