Mark Philip Norton (42), delivery driver, admitted a charge of dangerous driving when he appeared before community magistrate Simon Heale in the Queenstown District Court yesterday.
On October 29, Norton was seen driving erratically on Hawthorne Dr, swerving between other vehicles in the two westbound lanes before arriving at a queue of vehicles stopped at roadworks.
He mounted the footpath and accelerated, nearly hitting the stop-go operator before deciding it was time for a U-turn.
He then drove at speed through The Landing shopping area’s car park before returning to Hawthorne Dr and heading towards State Highway 6.
After "accelerating heavily" on Douglas St, he approached the turnoff to Kelvin Peninsula in the wrong lane, and continued driving in the wrong lane for about 200m along Peninsula Rd before swerving back into his lane to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
He was eventually found by police in Kelvin Heights.
Norton admitted his driving had been "shockingly unacceptable".
Mr Heale said he did not want to impose a disqualification, as that would result in the defendant losing his job.
He was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours’ community work.
