Donna Jones
A 32-year-old man made national headlines after his dangerous driving antics were captured on dashcam in front of a Gympie primary school.
The man’s vehicle is seen attempting to overtake another vehicle at speed on a blind corner, pulling straight into the path of an oncoming car in the school-zone of the Jones Hill State Primary School.
The incident happened not long after 3pm on Tuesday, 6 June.
A member of the Gympie Police Patrol Group on a police motorcycle saw the driver in a white Ford Focus travelling along the Mary Valley Road and recorded his speed as 142kph in a 100 zone.
The officer turned to pursue the driver, with his lights and siren, before he saw the car turn onto McIntosh Creek Road.
Police statements released about the incident say that when the officer turned onto the road, and saw it to be an active school zone, he immediately broke off the pursuit and turned his lights and sirens off.
Dashcam footage from a silver 4WD in the area shows the white car approach the corner at speed, lift onto two wheels, and almost roll into the path of the oncoming car, before starting to right itself, and the driver squeezing (on two wheels) between the oncoming car and a white sedan immediately in front of him, significantly damaging all three vehicles in the process.
The driver is then seen, through a rear dash cam, dropping the car back onto four wheels, blowing out the driver’s side window in the process, and then driving off at speed towards the Echelon Estate.
Fortunately no-one was injured during the incident.
The vehicle was later located on Judicial Circuit and the driver apprehended a short distance away in possession of two firearms, drugs, drug utensils and a small knife.
Gympie police charged the man with 16 offences, including one count each of disobeying the speed limit, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, failing to comply with duties of a driver involved in a crash, driving a motor vehicle without a driver’s licence (disqualified by court order).
He is also facing four counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one count of receiving tainted property.
He appeared before the Gympie Magistrates Court the following day and is due to reappear on 10 July.
Police investigations into the matter are ongoing and they are appealing for anyone with dashcam or CCTV of the incident to come forward.