Dashcam footage shows rental car's close shave while overtaking in Queenstown
Monday, 19 March 2018
Police are searching for a driver responsible for a dangerous overtaking incident in a rental car near Queenstown.
A video posted by a New Zealander on website Reddit on Sunday shows a white hatchback travelling towards oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road, while overtaking on a bend.
The car swerved over the centre line to pass and just missed an oncoming Jucy rental van, which veered to the side to avoid a head-on collision.
According to GPS and date data on the footage, the incident took place on the Gibbston Highway, near Queenstown, about 11.55am on Sunday.
The driver, in a Snap Rentals Toyota Corolla, overtook at about 90 kilometres an hour.
'If you are the driver then props to you for having the awareness to see this d… approaching and pull to the left,' one person wrote.
'That person should lose their licence, period,' another commented.
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One suggested if the car swerved a moment later, the scene could have been much worse.
'We aren't just looking at a potential crash between two cars here – at the speeds they're all going with the number of cars in the video, we're looking at a complete and total cluster…. of death.'
A police spokeswoman confirmed on Monday they received a complaint about the driver.
'We are making inquiries to identify the driver.'