Dash cam video of truck overtaking on Kaimāī Range prompts investigations

Screenshot from footage of a truck overtaking a car on the Kaimāī Range between Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

A Matamata company is investigating after “shocking” dashcam footage of one of its trucks overtaking on the wrong side of the road was posted online.

It is not clear from the 29-second video, posted anonymously on social media on Tuesday night, why the truck entered the oncoming lane.

The caption of the post said it happened on the Kaimāī Range, which is between Bay of Plenty and Waikato and crossed via State Highway 29.

A timestamp on the video suggested it was filmed on Tuesday afternoon.

The video shows the vehicle with the dashcam driving in the far left lane as cars pass it in a passing lane.

With the passing lane running out, a white car overtakes the vehicle with the dashcam and the truck uses the oncoming lane to overtake both vehicles.

The truck re-enters the left lane in front of both vehicles as the passing lane ends, and an oncoming vehicle rounds the corner ahead.

Screenshot from footage of a truck overtaking a car on the Kaimāī Range between Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

The post’s caption identifies the truck as from J Swap, which is a contracting company based in Matamata.

“Jswap hard up it down the Kaimāīs,” the comment said.

There were more than 150 comments on the video, with some calling the move “dangerous” and “shocking”.

Another said it would be interesting to see what the camera inside the J Swap truck showed. “[The driver] may not have had a choice ... pretty bloody scary”.

The Bay of Plenty Times asked J Swap via email if it was aware of the incident, how it was being handled with the driver, if the company had had dashcam footage to show its driver’s point of view, and what led the driver to make this manoeuvre to the wrong side of the road.

Screenshot from footage of a truck overtaking a car on the Kaimāī Range between Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

In response, J Swap said the matter was currently under investigation.

Police confirmed they were aware of the incident and were making inquiries.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.