Dramatic dashcam video has surfaced showing a motorist avoiding a serious crash by the narrowest of margins on a notorious stretch of Northland highway.
The driver on his way to work in Whangarei captured the terrifying few seconds and shows a car losing control and skidding metres away from the driver when a car on the opposite side of the road then smashes into the car in front.
The driver dodged both cars as they headed towards him.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/466R6X4EORCRNBULQG5VD2EDYQ.jpg)
The crash, which left two people seriously injured, occurred on Smeatons Hill about 8.30am on January 18, 2016.
Northland's top traffic officer Inspector Wayne Ewers was at the scene shortly after the smash and said drivers needed to take extra care on wet roads.
At the time Ewers said it appeared a woman driving a southbound vehicle along State Highway 1, just south of Whangarei, lost control and crossed the centre line colliding with a vehicle headed northbound.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LAJPBRDNJBHMTKUTQVSCHD5XTA.jpg)
Both drivers were taken to Whangarei Hospital by ambulance. A male passenger of the southbound vehicle was not injured.
Ewers said a third vehicle was involved after colliding with debris but no one was injured in that vehicle.
The female driver was convicted of careless use of a motor vehicle, causing injury.
This latest video showing a near miss comes only a few weeks after a Northland logging truck driver released dashcam footage of many near-misses he had seen.
Smeatons Hill was an area well know for crashes.
A triple fatality occurred just a kilometre south of Smeatons Hill in November last year, prompting calls from road safety officials for urgent work to prevent further fatal and serious crashes.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LXPL5YRPJVCMNEQDASYXARUCZI.jpg)
The section of road they died on was described as "notorious" by Ewers, who was also called to the scene shortly after the triple tragedy.
-Northern Advocate