POLICE are investigating a dashcam video which shows a reckless driver jump a red light at around 50mph, coming within feet of hitting another vehicle.
The idiotic motorist roars past two cars and through a set of lights which turned red three seconds earlier.
The Kia Cee’d swerves sharply to the right to avoid a white Mini going through the junction on green.
There was a child passenger in the Mini, and had the car been been half a second earlier, it would have been hit side-on with likely fatal consequences.
The footage was filmed in Nelson, Lancashire, by a local councillor who immediately sent the footage to police.
Neil McGowan, who described the incident as “mental”, said it was time to crackdown on dangerous drivers in the area.
Cllr McGowan’s footage, shot on Saturday from the front and back, also shows the Kia pass a young woman carrying a child just a second before pulling out to overtake.
At the start of the footage, Cllr McGowan is seen slowing down as he approaches a set of traffic lights in the town.
Instead of slowing down as well, the Kia appears to drop a gear and accelerate past the dash cam car and a Ford Fiesta travelling in front.
Parked cars can be seen on the other side of the road along the narrow street as the driver hurtles towards the red-light.
As the driver passes the red, a white convertible Mini is seen pulling out of the junction from behind a row of houses, appearing unaware of the Kia travelling towards it.
At the very last moment the Mini breaks sharply and the grey Kia weaves around and continues speeding down street into the distance.
Cllr McGowan said: “”It was mental, a total disregard for road safety. It’s by far the worst driving I’ve seen in the area and as a Councillor I’m working on cracking down on it.
“I was making my wayback from Burnley and this young lad caught my attention.
“He had undertook on a roundabout beforehand and I was watching him.
“It’s a 30mph limit on that road and we were travelling around 28mph. The car in front was slowing down for the lights when he pulled out and went past.
The dashcam shows Cllr McGowan’s car doing just over 20mph and he reckons the overtaking motorist “passed us at around 40 – 50mph”.
“If the Mini driver had been half a second quicker or further along the he would have hit it and what makes the hair on the back of my neck stand is there was a child inside the Mini.”
Cllr McGowan for the Marsden in Pendle ward added: “I sent the footage to the police at the weekend and I just got a reply this morning saying it had been forwarded on to an officer who will be looking into it.”
A Lancashire Constabulary spokeswoman confirmed today that the incident was being investigated by officers.
She said: “We can confirm it has been reported to us this morning. Officers are currently making enquiries as to who the driver was.”
