REGIONAL: Dashcam captures terrifying near-miss on narrow country road

The terrifying near-miss was captured by dashcam footage which shows the white flat bed truck trying to speed passed another vehicle before causing an oncoming Audi to swerve out of the way to narrowly avoid a crash.

The driver of the car, who wished to remain anonymous, has slammed her fellow motorist following the incident, labelling them ‘reckless’.

She said: ‘Had this been a split-second later, my 17-year-old daughter and her 16-year-old friend and I may well have been killed.

‘This was reckless, dangerous driving on a narrow country road hemmed in by woodland.

‘This van came from out of the blue and I was forced to take evasive action, swerving off the road to avoid impact, otherwise there would have been a horrific head-on crash.

‘My daughter and her friend were very upset by the incident.’

The incident happened on the B2089 near Brede High Woods, north of Hastings in West Sussex, at 4.23pm on Tuesday, May 15, and was captured on dashcam footage by a Barhale Trant Utilities (BTU) works driver.

Phil King, who works for BTU and witnessed the near-miss, said: ‘This was a distressing incident for the oncoming motorist and her passengers – our dashcam footage recorded what took place as the vehicle overtook my works van.’

He turned his van around to check on the motorist, who had pulled over in shock following the incident.

The motorist, who lives near Hastings, later emailed BTU praising Phil for his help.

She wrote: ‘I would particularly like to thank Phil King who took the time to stop and find out that we were all okay. He was calm and helpful and a credit to your company. Please pass on my thanks.’

BTU’s headquarters are in Havant and the business delivers improvements for Southern Water’s water and waste water networks.

Simon Cawkwell, BTU Transport Manager, said: ‘There is no doubt that the reckless actions of the overtaking driver risked the lives of other road users that day.

‘We have provided the dashcam footage to the motorist for her investigation and we hope that, by sharing the footage to the public, that someone recognises the vehicle involved. Less than a second later and we would have been looking at potential fatalities.’