Truck forced to take evasive action after car crosses double yellow lines to make a turn. Video / Supplied
A driver crossing double yellow lines on State Highway 3 forced evasive action from trucks.
The incident was captured on dashcams and shared on social media by Geoff Upson.
Upson emphasised the need for better driver education over blanket speed reductions for road safety.
A driver’s decision to cross double yellow lines to turn off a state highway forced trucks and cars to take evasive action to avoid a crash.
The incident, on March 27 on State Highway 3 in Manawatū, was captured on multiple dashcams and shared to social media.
Videorecorded by a truck driver shows two trucks travelling westward up the hill towards Mt Stewart on SH3 between Palmerston North and Sanson.
With two lanes heading west and one lane on the other side of double-yellow lines, the trucks take up both westward lanes as they approach the intersection with Penny Rd.
But, as the dashcam in the truck in the lefthand lane records, a blue 4WD is seen stopped directly in the path of the other truck, waiting to turn right while sitting on the wrong side of the road.
The truck was forced to take evasive action.
That truck is forced to cross into the oncoming lane to avoid the smaller vehicle, narrowly avoiding a car heading east and prompting a shocked reaction from the other truck driver.
“Woah, f*** me. What a f***wit. I just got that on dashcam, you f***en spoon!”
Cars following behind the trucks also move into the oncoming lane to get past the stopped 4WD, including one driven by Steve Fallon, whose dashcam also recorded the bizarre scene.
Fallon, a former frontline ambulance officer, told the Herald he had no idea what the driver was thinking.
“All I could think of was this is going to be a huge mess.”
The clips were shared by road safety campaigner and Auckland local body politician Geoff Upson, who told the Herald the videos highlighted the need for more driver education.
“Driver education will do more for road safety than blanket speed reductions.”
An online commenter said they come up against exactly the same scenario at the intersection, and others labelled it a “bad road layout”.
“That’s a trap for anyone navigating by GPS,” one person claimed.
Others decried the driver’s actions, saying they had a “death wish”.
Police said they had not received reports of the incident.
Chris Marriner is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending news and social media. He joined the Herald in 2003 and previously worked in the Herald’s visual team.
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