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A driver of a white ute says he left his “fingernails in the steering wheel” as an overtaking van came hurtling towards him on a Hawke’s Bay highway.

The incident along State Highway 2 between Nūhaka and Wairoa on Friday, June 13, about 1.45pm was recorded on the dashcam of the truck the van overtook.

The footage shows a white ute – travelling to Wairoa – braking heavily as the oncoming cleaning-company van attempts to pass the truck.

It misses the white van by metres as it moves back into the left lane.

Rentokil Initial - the business that owns the van – said it had taken disciplinary action against its driver after seeing the footage.

Police say they are looking into a report of the incident.

The driver of the ute, who asked to remain anonymous due to his work across the East Coast, said he was both trembling and annoyed after the near-miss.

The van and ute were metres away from colliding.

“I left my fingernails in the steering wheel.

“He had only just pulled out to overtake the [logging truck], and he was in my lane coming at me, and I’m doing 100km and he is doing 100km.”

The ute driver said he immediately slammed on his brakes and moved to the side of the road.

“I could see how much distance he was going to need to get around ... I slammed my brakes on straight away and literally wiped from 100km to 20km and pulled over as far as I could.”

The driver said he believed the van driver would have had enough time after pulling out to slow back down and return to the correct lane rather than continue to pass.

“They decided to gun it and carry on with that manoeuvre.”

The ute driver said he travelled to Gisborne every three to four weeks, and said he had encountered dangerous driving before.

“[But] that’s the first time I’ve ever thought ‘I’m not making it home tonight’.”

After pulling over in Wairoa, he decided to contact police and the trucking company to obtain the dashcam footage to report the driving to Rentokil Initial.

Rentokil Initial’s Pacific managing director Andrew Stone said it was made aware of an incident that involved one of its drivers.

“Our local operations manager contacted the driver who had witnessed the incident that afternoon.”

Stone said the discussion, along with a review of the video footage supplied, led to an internal investigation.

“Safety is of the utmost importance to Rentokil Initial, and this incident has been taken very seriously. Appropriate disciplinary action has been taken.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed police had received a complaint about the driving of a van travelling in the direction of Gisborne from Wairoa on that date.

“The road policing team is looking into this report, in order to identify the driver of the van and determine what enforcement action is required.”