Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Instructor’s dashcam captures some ‘unbelievable’ bad driving
A driving instructor says more needs to be done to cut down on the number of near-misses and dangerous manoeuvres by motorists on the city’s roads.
Among the death-defying incidents Haider Khan, 44, has captured on his dashcam are a motorist driving the wrong way up a dual carriageway on the Rheims Way and another coming within a whisker of a serious crash on Broad Oak Road.
Mr Khan, owner of the Le4rners driving school, captured the footage of the offences as he conducted lessons with pupils.
The first, which Mr Khan took on January 19, shows a small hatchback driving fast and dangerously overtaking traffic near a junction on Broad Oak Road.
Viewers see the car avoid smashing into a van, pulling out of the showroom forecourt, by a whisker.
The instructor explained: “There was a car driving behind me, well over the speed limit. It decided to overtake me near the junction just before the Land Rover garage.
“I had a student in my car at the time. He couldn’t believe it.”
The second, perhaps more shocking clip, was taken just two days later and shows Mr Khan and his student on the Rheims Way, approaching the roundabout close to Canterbury Academy.
A silver Mercedes is seen uncertainly going around the roundabout before missing the turn-off to head towards the A2. A rearfacing camera then captures the car turning into oncoming traffic and going the wrong way down the dual carriageway.
“It was unbelievable,” Mr Khan said.
At the time of the event, traffic officer Christopher Smith was driving down the Rheims Way, heading in the direction of the motorist who had taken a wrong turn.
He said: “I was coming from London and came face to face with him.
“I was able to stop traffic in lane two and another driver helped with lane one while he reversed back. He got confused.”
Miraculously, no one in either incident was hurt.
Speaking to the Gazette, Mr Khan said the incidents have an impact on those taking to the road for the first time.
He said: “Students are already nervous. They are hesitant when approaching a roundabout, and it doesn’t make things any easier when so many motorists don’t know how to drive properly.”
Mr Khan had originally installed a camera on his dashboard after a car collided with his while he was out with a student.
“I see so many incidents out on the roads of Canterbury,” he explained. “More needs to be done.”