Above: A screenshot of the dash-cam footage provided by Grace Stevens showing a close call between a ute and a white car on the Monaro Highway.
In an effort to highlight dangerous driving occurring “every single week”, a Cooma woman has released dash-cam footage of a frighteningly close call when a ute is faced with an overtaking car travelling right into its path on the Monaro Highway.
The incident captured dramatically on camera took place around 5 pm on Tuesday (July 31) and shows the ute swerving off the road to narrowly avoid the oncoming car which has crossed into its lane.
Grace Stevens was travelling back to Cooma and was near the Ryrie Road before Bredbo when the near-miss took place in front of her.
Grace said that “sadly this happens way too often, especially between Cooma and Canberra” and so she decided to post the footage on Facebook to draw attention to the problem.
“I posted it to definitely draw attention to the ridiculous and dangerous driving that happens on the roads with the snowy mountain region,” Grace told The RiotACT.
“People have been trying to draw attention to this problem for so long, especially with this year feeling as though it has been the worst.
“I experience someone driving recklessly every single week and people dying is still not enough to stop them, which is a shame.
“And being locals to the area, it’s a shame that generally it’s the tourists causing these problems and putting lives at risk.”
Grace said that the young man driving the car has been in touch with her since the incident and has told her that he is “a little shaken but okay.”
“Just wanted to say, good on him for the way he quickly reacted and avoided the situation.”
The driver, Will Wright of Berridale, has since been in touch with The RiotACT and said that the other driver’s rush to get home could have come at the cost of his life.
“Unfortunately this [kind of driving] is a common occurrence in our local area, it was only Grace’s footage that made this public,” Will said.
“I encourage people to invest in dash-cams, it helps raise awareness of dangerous driving such as this.
“It’s lucky I was able to evade this collision and I hope everyone stays safe on the roads – and please don’t rush.”
Grace said she has passed the footage on to the Cooma and Jindabyne police and is waiting for them to get back to her.
Below is the dash-cam footage of the incident provided by Grace Stevens.
***** This Article first appeared in the RiotACT
