Dashboard camera video shows driver's close call with truck

ORLANDO, Fla. - An Osceola County man got a big scare as he was driving on Simpson Road, and it was all caught on a dashboard-mounted camera.

"I noticed really bright lights. Recognized it as a truck," said Jason Vega. "As I got closer, it was obvious he was kind of leaning and slowly going into my lane."  

In the video, you see Vega comes to close for comfort with a car carrier truck.

"At the very last minute, when I realize oh yea, he’s headed right for me, I kind of looked to the right real quick to see if I can find an escape route, and luckily, there was some grass there, like a ditch and I just went right off into the grass."

We showed Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Kim Montes the video. She says there’s been an increase in crashes where people are improperly passing.

"That video is pretty scary considering what this gentleman saw coming towards him. This is a car carrier full of cars, and it's in his lane."

In this case, Montes said she is not sure what the truck driver was trying to do.

"For whatever reason, clearly he’s in the opposite lane coming at this driver and the driver did a phenomenal job of keeping his cool and getting out of the way in a controlled manner."

She said by paying attention, it gave Vega an extra second to plan what to do. She has advice for other drivers.

"Keep calm and then go off onto the shoulder of the roadway like he did in a controlled manner where he didn’t lose control."

Vega said he didn’t bother calling the authorities.

"Nothing happened, I was ok, so I let it be."

While Montes is glad Vega is ok, she recommends drivers call 911 or *FHP, so they can try catching the culprit.

"A lot of trucking companies have their own video in a lot of these trucks. "

She said it’s important to get dangerous drivers off the road.

"He’s still driving down the road. Who else may be a potential victim because we don’t know why he swerved into that other lane."