A Canberra police officer has filmed what they say could have been a head-on collision with a car carrying two young children.
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The ACT Policing traffic operations officer was driving along the Monaro Highway over the Queen's Birthday long weekend when faced with an oncoming four-wheel drive dangerously trying to overtake another car.
The footage shows the oncoming car travelling towards the officer on the wrong side of the road. The officer pulls off the road just before the four-wheel drive makes a last-minute merge back into its lane.
ACT Policing have used the video to warn drivers of the dangers of fatigue, particularly travellers heading between Canberra and the snowfields, saying the near-miss could have resulted in multiple road deaths.
The footage has emerged a day after police called on Canberrans to slow down and stay alert in wet weather, following a deadly week on the ACT's slippery roads including two deaths and 43 crashes as of 1pm Thursday.
A man died in hospital after his car crashed into a tree in Farrer early Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after a 31-year-old man died in a crash on Erindale Drive on Wednesday afternoon.
Acting officer in charge of Traffic Operations, acting station Sergeant Susan Smith said the occupants of both cars were lucky.
She said drivers needed to be mindful of how long they had been behind the wheel.
"It's only a few hours to the ski fields but drivers should be stopping for 15 minutes every two hours," she said.
"Drivers tend to push their limits in getting to their destination, becoming fatigued and impatient.
Sergeant Smith said fatigue and speeding were two of the top five causes of road fatalities.
