With many motorists driving to New Year locations around the country, road safety campaigners are urging increased awareness and extra care taken during this busy holiday season.
It comes as a car was seen driving on the wrong side of the road, caught on camera by a following vehicle.
Watch the video here:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/12/car-caught-on-camera-driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road-towards-oncoming-traffic.html
The near-miss happened on a stretch of State Highway 2 near Paeroa just after 6:30pm on Saturday.
The driver who was following behind frantically beeped his horn, trying to get the attention of the driver on the wrong side of the road - heading into a line of oncoming traffic around the bend.
"It's pure insanity… I don't know how you're able to drive on a New Zealand road when you don't know a basic road rule," Lachlan told Newshub.
It's a scare he won't forget - his worst fear was what was heading straight onto the driver's path.
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"About five seconds away was a set of four cars coming through... nothing's going to end well with that," he said.
Lachlan estimates the rental car was on the opposite side of the road for at least 15 seconds - seconds which felt like an eternity behind the wheel.
"Thankfully, she got on the right side of the road - five seconds late it would've been a different story."
"It's pure insanity… I don't know how you're able to drive on a New Zealand road when you don't know a basic road rule,"
Driving on the wrong side of the road is a terrifying sight for others; road safety campaigners are urging motorists to notify authorities during the busy summer season.
"This is really dangerous behaviour - it's putting your own life at risk, the lives of your passengers and the lives of other people on the roads around you," said Caroline from road safety charity Brake.
"If you see another driver displaying risky, dangerous behaviour on the road then reporting that to star 555 is a really useful thing to do - we really recommend that drivers do that."
Lachlan's heading off on another road trip on Sunday but he'll be taking extra care as he's still shaken from last night's close shave.
