Opinion: Dash cam footage stirs up unpleasant memory

The terrifying footage of a silver ute overtaking a 23m-long truck and coming within inches of crashing into oncoming traffic hit a little too close to home for me.

Just a few weeks ago I found myself in a similar situation.

We were driving up to Auckland on a Friday night. It was dark, it was raining and both my husband and I had just finished a full day's work.

It's a drive we've done hundreds of times since moving to Rotorua and setting out, this trip felt no different.

Then something happened and for me, it was the first time in my life I actually thought I might die.

Driving at 100km/h along State Highway 5, two cars in front of us swerved into oncoming traffic and slammed on their brakes. As my mind was processing what was happening ahead, the headlights of an oncoming car shone right in my face.

My husband braked, my arm instinctively flew out across his chest and a scream froze in my throat.

The car sped down my left-hand side, less than a metre from the passenger door.

I exhaled, not aware I had been holding my breath, and looked in the rear view mirror to see the car pull back on to the right side of the road as though nothing had happened.

The two cars in front of us pulled over, no doubt in shock, and I started violently shaking.

Then I got angry.

How dare that driver put other people's lives at risk - whether they were intentionally trying to pass the queue of cars or fell asleep and crossed the centre line - had we collided, my husband and I could have paid the ultimate price of that driver's stupidity.

Although terrifying, the experience will not likely stop me driving, it's just not realistic in this day and age. But it did highlight more than ever before how much road users rely on others to make it to their destination safely.

Watching that dash cam footage was horrifying but you know what the worst bit was? I've seen countless videos taken on New Zealand roads showing the same thing.

And now I've experienced it firsthand too.

We can only be responsible for our own actions so the next time you consider taking a too-small gap or risking a dodgy overtake, remember there are real people at the other end, just trying to get to their destination safely.