Dashcam footage captures wrong-way driver on Waikato Expressway off-ramp

A confused driver has been captured heading on to a Waikato motorway on the wrong side of the road before being forced to reverse by oncoming traffic.

Dashcam footage of the alarming episode that brought traffic to a standstill shows a small hatchback driving along the southbound exit at Mercer around 9.28pm.

A motorist told the Herald he saw strange bright lights coming towards him as he drove south towards Mercer.

He was forced to stop after realising a vehicle was attempting to enter the motorway using the State Highway 1 off-ramp.

“He reversed right against the barrier, and I was sitting there waiting, thinking, you’re not going on the motorway!”

With both vehicles at a standstill, the hatchback reversed slowly off the exit and repositioned the vehicle to head on the right side of the road at an intersection before returning to Mercer.

The motorist later saw the wrong-way driver speaking with another person at a nearby petrol station.

“The strangest part at the end was the interaction with the other car.”

He said the second driver seemed to be questioning the blunder.

In the footage, a second vehicle can be seen parked on the side of the road near the entrance to the off-ramp.

Both vehicles then continued north after the exchange.

Police said they had not been notified about the wrong-way error.