Shocking footage shows careless Merc driver almost crash head on at high speed in Kildare

A couple of motorists and a group of cyclists had a lucky escape over the Bank Holiday weekend when the driver of a white Mercedes just about managed to pull in before colliding with an oncoming car at high speed on the Kildare to Nurney road.

A group of riders from Naas Cycling Club were out for a ride on Sunday morning and were travelling in the usual two abreast formation when traffic came up behind them. The footage shows two cars overtaking the riders quite sensibly, leaving plenty of distance between the car and the cyclists while passing them out.

The next car that overtook the group wasn't quite so sensible, despite leaving a decent amount of space between their vehicle and the cyclists. Approaching at what looks to be very high speed in contrast to the previous two cars, there was oncoming traffic, which resulted in the driver of the UK reg white Mercedes needing to veer back into the left lane just before colliding with the oncoming Opel Astra and barely avoiding the cyclists at the front of the group. Considering the speed in which the Mercedes was travelling, an impact between the two vehicles could have been catastrophic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccyvjw0Veco

The video was published on Youtube by Naas Cycling Club member John Ruddy, who described the incident as the closest shave he as ever seen on a bike.

"We had what for me was the closest shave I've ever seen on a bike. An English registered Mercedes overtook a group of us from Naas Cycling Club at speed on the Kildare to Nurney Road, a driver on the other side thankfully with great foresight slammed on to just about give the idiot in the Merc inches to get in ahead of him and us."

Last week was a terrible week on the roads in the county as two men died in separate collisions on Monday and Tuesday, while there were also numerous other accidents around the county.