Police have filed a case against the driver of a tanker truck following a dangerous driving incident on a road near Lake Plastira in central Greece.
The driver was identified through the transportation company he works for after police launched an investigation prompted by video footage of the incident that was posted online.
Tanker crossed into oncoming lane
The incident occurred when the tanker attempted to overtake another vehicle by moving into the opposite lane at a point with limited visibility.
A 25-year-old motorcyclist was traveling in the opposite direction and managed to swerve out of the way at the last moment.
The entire incident was captured by a camera mounted on the motorcyclist’s helmet. He later posted the footage on social media, where it was widely shared, prompting authorities to intervene.
‘I narrowly escaped’
Speaking to the Greek television program “Koinonia Ora MEGA,” the motorcyclist described what happened.
“I was in a curve. As always, I was looking at the opposite lane for safety reasons, and I noticed a tanker getting very close to a car and eventually making an overtaking maneuver that I managed to avoid,” he said.
“At the last moment, I had slowed down a little and had very little space. […] Mechanically, I completely avoided the tanker. Later, when I returned home, I watched the footage from the camera. I realized that I had narrowly escaped.”
The motorcyclist said the consequences could have been far more serious if he had been driving a car.
“If I had been in a car, a head-on collision would have been 100% certain. There was nowhere for a car to go there,” he said.
He added that the road has no specific posted speed limit and is instead subject to the speed limit provided under Greece’s road traffic code for rural roads.
According to the motorcyclist, his speed briefly reached as much as 100 kilometers per hour, while his average speed was between 80 and 85 kph.
Footage led to police investigation
The 25-year-old said he happened to have the camera because he was making a video for the internet as a hobby.
“I had gone out intending to make a video, which is why I happened to have the camera and microphone,” he said.
He explained that he posted the footage “purely for educational purposes,” so people could see the danger present on the road.
“I didn’t file a complaint against the driver, nor did I initially go to the police, although they contacted me afterward,” he said.
