A New Zealand driver was left so shocked by a “speeding” campervan’s near miss, he followed it to where it stopped, and spoke with the other driver.
Romain Sacchettini was driving from Queenstown to Christchurch in February when a campervan overtook him on State Highway 8 near Twizel.
The incident, which Sacchettini recorded on his dashcam, happened in the same area where three crashes took place in recent weeks. You can watch it in the video player above.
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Sacchettini said the overtaking campervan’s near miss with an oncoming van came at the “worst time”.
“I just had the time to realise what was happening and jump on the brakes, and the driver coming the other way also did the same and almost crashed into the side of the road.”
After the incident, Sacchettini followed the campervan to a scenic stop and spoke to the driver, he said.
“I basically told them that they can’t get away with that, especially since they had three kids at the back,” Sacchettini said.
“It’s not acceptable to put what was probably, I would say, six to eight lives at risk. I’ve been driving for more than 20 years now, and I have never come that close to being in a crash.”
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Sacchettini said he reported the incident to police at the time, but really what was needed was a greater law enforcement presence on the roads as a deterrent.
“The police are nowhere to be seen. If people get in the habit of driving that way, it’s because there’s no sanctions, no dissuasion put into place to counteract that phenomenon,” Sacchettini said.
“Something has to happen, especially in light of the recent two crashes on that very highway in pretty much the same location. My question is what are the New Zealand police waiting for?”
Last Friday, a truck and trailer unit rolled 10km south of Twizel, on SH8. That crash came less than 24 hours after two buses, carrying dozens of passengers, crashed 100m apart further up SH8, leaving multiple people injured.
Sacchettini said he was not surprised when he heard about the crashes.
“One friend of mine, she used to drive through that area quite a lot at times and decided she would avoid that highway because she’s seen a few near misses.
“We are not surprised that something’s happening now, and there’s been injured people or dead people in the last few days, it was just waiting to happen.”
In a statement, police said they take incidents such as the February near miss extremely seriously, and undertake significant enforcement and prevention activity on roads across New Zealand every day.
On Tuesday, NZTA said it was introducing a temporary reduced speed limit on SH8 in Canterbury for the rest of winter following the latest crashes.
Stuff has approached the campervan company involved for comment on the incident.
This article was originally published on Stuff.co.nz and has been reproduced here with permission.
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