‘Near death’ brush with driver

A couple heading back from a car show are still shaking after they narrowly avoided a head-on collision with the driver of a stolen car.

On Sunday afternoon, Tracy Hinton and her husband Grant were heading south on State Highway 1, near Levin, from a car show in Palmerston North when they noticed a car driving on the wrong side of the road was ‘‘gunning it’’ in their direction.

The two were in a passing lane when they saw the white Mazda quickly approaching. Hinton estimated it was ‘‘easily travelling 125kmh or 130kmh’’.

‘‘It wasn’t until later that we knew it was a stolen car,’’ Tracy Hinton said.

Police said a youth was taken into custody in relation to the incident.

Tracy Hinton said they were able to merge away just in time, missing a headon collision with the car by ‘‘what looked like centimetres’’.

The near-miss was captured on their car’s dashcam camera.

‘‘I didn’t actually realise it was that close until we actually looked at the footage and it was like, ‘Oh my God’,’’ Hinton said.

Grant Hinton, who was driving, said he ‘‘went into emergency mode and was looking for somewhere to go’’.

With a vehicle beside them, the two passed the car with seconds to spare.

‘‘Given the speeds involved, I fancy our odds in a solid [Ford] Falcon versus a Mazda. It wouldn’t have been pretty for anyone though,’’ he said.

Tracy Hinton said ‘‘three or four’’ police cars drove past with their sirens and lights on in the northbound lane shortly after.

‘‘We had seen one [police car] cruising ahead, but we didn’t think anything of it at the time because he didn’t have his lights or sirens on.’’

Tracy Hinton said she was ‘‘still a bit shaky’’ from the ordeal.’’

‘‘Every now and then it’ll go through my mind, thinking, ‘Oh God, I might not have been here at work today’. I just keep thinking how short life is and how easily it can be taken away from you.’’

Police were alerted to reports of a car driving dangerously in the Plimmerton area about 2pm on Sunday.

Police found the vehicle, which was identified as stolen, and approached it in an attempt to stop it, but the driver fled.

Initial attempts to stop the vehicle were unsuccessful. The vehicle was then found heading towards Whanganui, where police deployed spikes on Somme Parade about 4:20pm, which brought the vehicle to a stop.

The youth driver was taken into custody and will be appearing in Youth Court late next month.