A96 dashcam footage shows learner driver swerving overtaking Audi as instructor ‘gobsmacked’
Dashcam footage has captured the moment that a learner driver and instructor suffered a “terrifying” near miss at an infamous junction in Huntly.
The video, taken by Elliot Asprey from the El Passo Driving School, shows one of his pupils driving west on the A96 before starting to enter the right-hand turning lane of the Tesco junction.
However, the footage shows a silver Audi pulling out into the filter lane to overtake a van - forcing the learner driver to swerve out of the oncoming vehicle’s path to avoid a collision.
The incident left his pupil so shaken-up that she asked him to drive her the rest of the way home.
In March 2024, an RAF serviceman died in a crash at the junction, sparking calls from campaigners for a meeting with Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
Mr Asprey was left “gobsmacked” by the near-miss, he said, having never experienced a similar incident throughout his entire driving career.
“That was terrifying,” he added.
“I was just gobsmacked when it happened, I really was.
“You do get a few people pulling out in front of you, which is fairly common, but I've never had anything like that in all my years of driving.
“I'm pleased to say that's rare. That was very rare, that one.
“You get the odd scares, but that junction, it's a little bit notorious.”
After the driving instructor posted a video of the incident online, he added, the driver of the Audi had come forward and “apologised for his dangerous decision”.
In response to the alarming video, people took to the comments to share their outrage and shock at the incident.
“It's things like this that make me say the reason I'm not winning the lottery is because I win it every time we are on that road and come out unscathed,” one commenter said.
“The amount of near misses we've had from bad drivers on the A96 since my son was born and we've had to travel to see him in Aberdeen hospital is wild.”
Another added: “This bit of road is incredibly dangerous with all of the junctions, there's accidents on it all of the time in the summer, and that's with people just coming out of the junctions, not doing idiotic manoeuvres like that.”