‘Got a bit impatient’: Dangerous near-miss caught on dashcam

A dangerous overtaking move, where a fuel tanker attempts to overtake a quad road train on the Great Eastern Highway, has been caught on dashcam by another truckie.

Truckie Neil LeCompte, 65, was travelling on the stretch at 11.37am on Monday May 27, when he saw the United Petroleum tanker on the wrong side of the road, coming straight for him and had to quickly get out of the way.

He was on his way from Kalgoorlie to Perth.

“The tanker driver didn’t even show one bit of trying to move out of the way,” said Neil.

“I’m a truckie but was in my car. Not sure what would have happened if it was someone that was not switched on or who panicked. It could have been a mess.

“I would hate to see what would have happened if it was an older couple in a caravan.”

An owner operator, Neil is usually behind the wheel of his Freightliner Cascadia and double road train. He says things could have been quite different if he was in his truck at the time.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done. On that road there are not a lot of places to pull over without risking flipping the truck,” he said.

“That quad was hauling from Southern Cross to the old Carina mine site. There’s a turn off down the road.

“The United driver just got a bit impatient,” Neil said. “You could see what was happening, he was trying to overtake one of the quads carrying iron ore but he didn’t do it very well!”

Though he added that this sort of behaviour unfortunately isn’t uncommon. “The roads are getting very congested now and that particular road is as rough as guts too. It’s the east west express road, so it gets really busy.

“There are quite a few quads running up there, but they’re generally really good and will let you know what’s happening on the radio.”

Neil shared his dashcam footage with United Petroleum. “The general manager rang me back and apologised profusely and said they’re investigating,” he said.

Big Rigs has contacted United Petroleum for comment.