Heart-stopping moment West Midlands driver narrowly avoids head-on crash with HGV after overtaking van

Heart-stopping footage shows the moment a West Midlands driver narrowly avoided crashing head-on into a lorry while overtaking a van.  

The reckless 25-year-old motorist avoided disaster by a matter of inches as he overtook on Silver Eagle Way, in Baginton, Warwickshire, in April last year.

Dashcam footage captured just how close he came to ploughing straight into a DHL lorry heading in the opposite direction - swerving out the way at the final second. He also clipped the van in the process of carrying out the dangerous manoeuvre - leaving debris scattered across the carriageway before driving away from the scene.  

Warwickshire Police, which has released footage of the terrifying near-miss, said in a statement: "Despite damaging the van, he failed to stop, exchange details or report the incident to police within the required 24 hours. Fortunately, the van driver had captured the entire incident on his dashcam. He submitted the footage to us, where it was reviewed and he was sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP)."

The driver, from Coventry, was banned from the roads for six months, handed a community order, requiring him to complete 120 hours of unpaid supervised work, and ordered to pay £250 in costs and victim surcharge.

Mrs Smith, police led prosecutor for Warwickshire Police, said: “This collision shows how valuable dashcam can be as the footage provided clear evidence of what had happened. The other driver stated he could find no damage to his car, but the footage clearly shows the damage sustained and we were able to use this as evidence in court. We can only hope the six‑month driving ban and unpaid work serves as a wake‑up call and encourages him to think more carefully about how he drives in future.”