A dashcam has captured a road rage clash that sent a car hurtling down a suburban Auckland driveway after a dispute turned violent, with one driver’s moment of madness forcing another to leap to safety.
The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, was driving on a right-of-way off Sunset Rd in Rosedale on March 9 when a white Audi came towards him.
“I moved my car back to make way for the other car, but the driver of the other car got angry at me for no reason, swearing and telling me to hurry up,” the victim told the Herald of the North Shore incident.
“While I was reversing, I stopped briefly to check behind me because the area was on a slope and visibility was poor, but the other driver got out of his car, ran towards me and punched me in the face without any warning.”
He received two punches to the left side of his face according to his medical file seen by the Herald, which left lasting headaches and painful swelling.
But the assault wasn’t over yet.
As the victim left his car in an attempt to dodge his assailant’s punches, the offender put the car in reverse and took the handbrake off, causing it to roll down the hill.
The victim’s car rolled backwards down a resident’s driveway, crashing into a bush and slamming into a parked car. Both vehicles were left damaged.
The driver can then be seen on the video frantically trying to stop his runaway vehicle, almost pinned to a fence by his own car as it rolled down the driveway.
“I am still very scared and afraid,” the man said.
The man attacked the driver of this vehicle, letting the handbrake off, which resulted in the vehicle rolling down a driveway.
A police spokesman said police are currently following positive lines of inquiry into locating the offender, and charges are likely.
The owner of the driveway and the second car that was hit said he was making lunch when he saw the man start to reverse down his driveway to let the other car through.
The man, who only wanted to be known as Andrew, said once he saw the situation escalate he quickly grabbed his phone to begin filming.
“[What] I saw was just a guy came up and punched him and then once I start recording, I just saw the car coming backwards down,” Andrew said.
“Then the guy just drove off.”
The victim's car after the road-rage incident in Rosedale, Auckland.
Andrew said the victim was left in a state of shock and was frantically trying to call police.
His car didn’t have any internal damage to the vehicle, but his bumper will need to be fully replaced as well as the bushes that run along his driveway.
Andrew said he is aware the offender might be a local to the area, which he said was “concerning”.
“I just hope more awareness can come out and then yeah, the guy can get his due course,” Andrew said.
A police spokesperson said they are making inquiries into the incident that was reported to them at 1.10pm on March 9.
“It’s understood a driver of one of the vehicles assaulted the driver of the other vehicle before leaving the scene,” the spokesperson said.
There are currently “positive lines of inquiry”, they said, and when they do locate the offender charges are likely.
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