Dashcam recorded dangerous driving

"This is not a woman who is prone to risktaking."

Lawyer Kylie Pascoe

A woman used to driving 1000 kilometres a day got caught out making a risky move on a notorious stretch of Taranaki road.

Jennifer Anne Brown’s dangerous driving in a company car was captured on the dashboard camera of a 23-metre long truck and trailer unit she overtook on Mt Messenger.

The risky manoeuvre was made in wet conditions and on a blind corner, causing two motorists to take evasive action to avoid a crash.

It also landed the 63-year-old in the New Plymouth District Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to driving in a dangerous manner.

Detective Sergeant Dave MacKenzie said Brown was driving north on Mt Messenger about 11.50am on January 18. The stretch of State Highway 3 had a high embankment to the left and a steep bluff to the right. At the time she was travelling behind a truck and trailer unit and reaching the end of a passing lane.

MacKenzie said Brown started to overtake the truck, despite the lack of visibility ahead.

‘‘Midway through the passing manoeuvre the defendant crossed the no passing lane into the oncoming lane,’’ MacKenzie said. The footage shows how close Brown’s car came to hitting an approaching vehicle.

MacKenzie said when Brown was spoken to by police, she told them the incident had given her a ‘‘terrible fright’’.

She said she had underestimated the length of the passing lane and put herself in a ‘‘bad situation,’’ MacKenzie said.

Lawyer Kylie Pascoe said Brown had been following the truck and trailer unit for some time beforehand and had chosen not to pass it at other points of the journey as she did not believe it had been safe.

‘‘This is not a woman who is prone to risk-taking,’’ Pascoe said.

Pascoe said Brown was not in any hurry but when she attempted to pass the truck on Mt Messenger, the car’s gear did not drop down as expected and she did not have enough speed to successfully complete the move.

When Brown found she had run out of room, she felt the safest option was to continue on, rather than drop back in behind the truck, Pascoe said.

She said due to Brown’s employment as a field manager, she could drive up to 1000 kilometres in a day across the North Island.

Brown’s employer was aware of the charge and Pascoe said any disqualification would impact on her client’s ability to do her job. She asked Judge Lynne Harrison to take this into account and step back from imposing any fine.

She added Brown was a first offender and on this occasion had made an error of judgement.

Judge Harrison said she had viewed the images taken from the dash cam footage and said that, coupled with the size of the truck and the weather conditions on the day, showed Brown had been an ‘‘absolute danger’’ to other motorists.

After taking into account her early guilty plea and unblemished criminal record, the judge disqualified Brown from driving for seven months and ordered her to pay $130 in court costs.