Truck driver charged after allegedly dangerous overtaking on Kaimāī Range captured on dashcam

A truck driver has been charged after “shocking” footage captured him overtaking two vehicles on the wrong side of the road.

The act on the Kaimāī Range, State Highway 29, was caught on dashcam footage on January 7, showing the truck belonging to a Matamata-based contracting company cross double yellow lines.

“The footage shows a truck on the wrong side of the road at a passing lane,” said police commercial vehicle safety team national manager, Inspector Scott Webb.

Webb said following an investigation, police have charged a 40-year-old Tauranga man with dangerous driving.

“He has been summoned to appear in the Tauranga District Court on February 27. As the case is before the court, we are unable to comment further.”

Screenshot from footage of a truck overtaking a car on the Kaimāī Range, State Highway 29, on January 7.

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

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.

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

A Tauranga man has been charged after this overtaking move on the Kaimāī Range between Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

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.

“Jswap hard up it down the Kaimais,” 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 last month asked J Swap via email if it was aware of the incident, how it was being handled with the driver, if the company had dashcam footage to show its driver’s point of view, and what led the driver to make the manoeuvre.

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