Watch: Chilling moment head-on crash avoided by just 300mm

A young family narrowly escaped a head-on collision with a ute after the driver tried to overtake a 52-tonne logging truck on a corner before clipping the rig and veering “wildly” out of control.

It was just after 4pm on March 16 when Stuart Desmond Robertson was travelling along State Highway 6, heading towards Nelson over the Whangamoa hill.

He was following a fully-laden log truck and trailer down the hill in a clearly marked 30km/h temporary speed limit area.

The 20- to 23-metre-long rig was travelling just over the advised speed in a narrow area of the road which featured a steep drop-off to the left.

On a short, straight section, Robertson, 44, pulled out to pass the truck; forcing an oncoming vehicle to pull over to the left as far as possible.

The oncoming vehicle had almost stopped when Robertson’s ute swerved between it and the truck, clipping the truck’s right front corner and bending its bumper.

He then “veered wildly” in an effort to regain control of his ute, and missed the oncoming car, which contained a couple and their young child, by 300 millimetres.

The police caught up with Robertson after a complaint was laid about the incident.

He said he thought he had enough room but hadn’t noticed the corner where the oncoming vehicle had come from but admitted then that what he’d done was dangerous.

The failed driving manoeuvre performed by Robertson could have ended in tragedy, and he was reminded of that when he appeared in the Nelson District Court this month.

Robertson clipped the front of the truck with his ute, bending its bumper. Photo / Dan English

It’s not often someone is told they are lucky to be standing in the dock, but that’s exactly what Judge Garry Barkle asked him to reflect on.

The concrete worker, who wore a fluorescent safety vest, heard how his “colourful driving history” might well have ended on that short stretch of highway.

The moment was caught on the dashcam of the truck owned by Richmond-based Stuart Drummond Transport and driven by Dan English, who also photographed the aftermath.

It was evidence which led to Robertson’s conviction after he switched his initial not-guilty plea to guilty on a charge of driving dangerously.

The transport firm’s managing director, Brodie Drummond told NZME it was troubling that truck drivers were seeing more risk-taking on the roads, and in this case, it was “pretty scary” how close it was to innocent people potentially losing their lives.

“It comes down to how important you think life is, and how quickly it can be taken,” he said.

“Equipment can be replaced but people can’t be.”

In court, defence lawyer Michael Vesty said Robertson knew describing it as a close call was “underselling it”, as evidenced by the footage on the truck’s dashcam.

Vesty said Robertson did have “something of a history” of dangerous driving but of a different nature. He said the cost to repair damage to the truck had been covered.

Judge Barkle said everyone in the courtroom would know the area of the Whangamoa where it had happened and the consequences of making a serious misjudgment.

“I imagine you count yourself lucky to be standing here today, and as Mr Vesty says, you do have a colourful driving history.”

Judge Barkle said even though it was historical, it was still relevant, before convicting him and disqualifying him from driving for 10 months.

Robertson was also ordered to pay $600 in emotional harm payment, divided between the truck driver and the driver of the oncoming vehicle, and was sentenced to 100 hours of community work.

Drummond said the truck damaged in the crash was off the road for about six weeks and because insurance didn’t cover the whole cost of repairs, they had taken a financial hit from the truck being out of action.

He said the driver, Dan English, had also been upset by the incident: “He loves that truck,” Drummond said.

English had also taken a financial hit through not having an available replacement truck for the time his was off the road.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.