A Bay of Plenty father says he was struck as he dived clear of a car that reversed at him, after shielding his wife and two young children from a knife-wielding attacker, in a road rage confrontation partially caught on camera yesterday afternoon.
Police confirmed they attended an alleged incident on Domain Rd in Pāpāmoa Beach, arriving just after 2pm on Tuesday after reports that one road user had allegedly threatened another.
"Police are making enquiries," a police spokesperson said.
The father, who 1News agreed not to name, said the trouble began after his family and a truck driver encountered a vehicle brake-checking and cutting them off.
"They ended up cutting in front of us, and it made us turn to go underneath the bridge," he said, adding he wound down his window to "give the driver an earful".
"I'm like, 'what are you bloody doing? [I've] got kids in the car, and you're cutting us off'."
Both vehicles stopped at the Pāpāmoa East Interchange, with a passenger getting out of the other car and approaching them with a knife, he said.
"I had to defend my family right then and there, I had to try and keep them away from my vehicle.
"We ended up getting into a bit of a tussle, transferring a few punches — he was trying to slice me with a knife. They threw a drink bottle at us, so I ended up picking it up and throwing it back at them."
The driver of the vehicle separately confronted the man's wife, who told 1News she was punched in the face several times as her children watched on from the back seat.
She said the ordeal had left the family shaken, and that she felt unsafe on the road dropping her older children to school this morning.
"My husband could have got killed, my children could have been injured. Thankfully, they're young enough not to remember it — their mum getting hit in the face, their dad in a fight, their car getting rammed."
The father said the widely circulated footage of the incident only captured the final moments of the confrontation.
"That's the tail end of the whole situation," he said.
"I ended up having to jump out the way. She was flooring it in reverse, so I stood in front of my car so she didn't hit it. Once I knew she wasn't stopping, I had to jump."
The mother said she could hear the wheels screeching as the car reversed.
"So pleased he was able to dive out of the way. He could have lost his life."
Anyone with relevant information about the incident should contact police.
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