A MAN travelling on the wrong side of the Pacific Motorway at Clothiers Creek in a ute, has narrowly avoided hitting several vehicles including trucks and a police car at 12.30am on Saturday, September 9, and the Queensland driver blew 0.19.
The 29-year-old man driving was arrested according to a police statement which said the man was “allegedly driving his vehicle on the wrong side of a motorway on the Far North Coast this morning, narrowly missing numerous cars including a police car”.
Police said they received a triple zero call from a witness who said the Mitsubishi Triton was being “driven at allegedly high speeds into oncoming traffic on the M1”.
“A short time later, a police officer driving a Traffic and Highway Patrol vehicle was forced to brake harshly to avoid a head-on collision with the utility,” the police statement reads.
“The Mitsubishi allegedly continued to travel south on the incorrect side of the road, reaching speeds of up to 133km/h and forcing numerous vehicles, including trucks, to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
“Police closed the M1 to northbound traffic and established a road block at Ewingsdale where the utility came to a stop.
“The driver was placed under arrest and breath-tested at the scene, returning a positive reading.
“He was taken to Byron Bay Police Station where he underwent a breath analysis, returning an alleged reading of 0.190.
“The Queensland man was charged with drive in a manner dangerous to the public and high range PCA, and had his licence suspended.”
He was granted bail to appear at Mullumbimby Local Court on Friday, September 29.
