Dramatic moment driver arrested after driving down wrong side of road

A man has been arrested after clocking up speeds down the wrong side of a busy highway, shocking onlookers and sparking a dramatic police chase.

A man has been arrested after driving down the wrong side of a Queensland highway, leading police to a wild chase-off while onlookers captured the dramatic events unfold.

Driving along the M1 on the Gold Coast about 11am Saturday morning, drivers were caught offguard seeing an orange utility making its way in a southerly direction in the northbound lane – the wrong side of the road – directly driving towards traffic at top speeds.

A man has been arrested after driving down the wrong side of the road, leading police to an enormous chase-off. Picture: 9News

Police stationed themselves in front of the car to stop it from speeding away. Picture: 9News

Following several triple-0 calls, police tracked the ute and stationed themselves on the northbound lane, blocking the road off to others in an attempt to stop the car.

Dramatic footage of the chase was captured by onlookers, who could only watch in disbelief as the tense stand-off came to a head.

Several police cars chased after the red ute, which was trying to escape with several U-turns and speeding away the way he came.

Eventually, the car pulled over the side of the road and police swarmed the vehicle; onlookers captured the dramatic moment authorities ripped the driver out of the car and pinned him down.

The dramatic moment a man was arrested for driving down the wrong side of the road. Picture: 9News

Dylan Thomas, his brother Will and friend Elliott, were watching the dramatic moments unfold in front of them, filming every second as the car sped away from the authorities.

“I couldn’t believe it, we were only in Queensland for about 20 minutes and then all of a sudden we were stopped,” Mr Thomas told 9News.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Police confirmed a man in his 40s was taken into custody in Pimpama.

Authorities do not believe the car was stolen.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing, and police urge anyone with information or dashcam footage to contact police.