Widgee woman fined over shocking near-miss caught on camera

Shocking video has captured the moment a woman falls asleep behind the wheel on a major Qld road, with other motorists frantically trying to get out of the way as her vehicle darts across lanes. SEE THE VIDEO.

A Gympie region woman has been fined for careless driving following a terrifying incident caught on camera on the Mary Valley highway on Monday.

The incident unfolded before motorist Luke Bishop while he was following a white 4WD south on the Mary Valley highway at Gildora, south of Gympie, about 2.30pm.

Footage captured by a camera in Mr Bishop’s car shows the 4WD driving south on a stretch of the highway with an unbroken white line in the centre of the 4WD’s lane.

About five seconds into the clip the 4WD crosses that double white line and begins travelling in the wrong lane.

Its wheels straddle the line for about 12 seconds before drifting fully into the path of oncoming traffic.

The driver of a northbound Mazda can then be seen swerving hard onto the road’s shoulder to avoid colliding head-on with the 4WD, which then finally pulls back into the correct lane.

Police have issued a 24-year-old Widgee woman with a traffic infringement notice for careless driving/due care and attention following an incident on Mary Valley Road, Gilldora around 2.30pm on December 2. Picture: Luke Bishop, Facebook.

It is not clear if the driver fell asleep, or was distracted.

The Mary Valley highway, which runs from Gympie to near Kenilworth, is a busy and notorious stretch of road, and the site of numerous serious accidents.

Queensland government data shows 64 crashes occurred there between 2012 and 2023.

Of those, 39 required at least one person be taken to hospital and 20 more required some kind of medical treatment.

Fortunately none have been fatal.

Police said in response to questions about the footage that a 24-year-old woman had been given an infringement notice over the 2.30pm incident.

Mr Bishop, who called the moments “nightmare stuff” declined to comment further on Tuesday.

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The near-miss happened at Gildora, in the Mary Valley outside Gympie, about 2.30pm Monday, December 2.

The driver of the Mazda, Shawnee Moses, said in a response under Mr Bishop’s post it was “very scary” and “didn’t realise how close it was till I saw the video”.

Mrs Moses has been approached for comment.

Mr Bishop said in the post the matter was reported to police while the driver of the 4WD was still travelling on the road.

He said under the post he “blasted” his horn several times to try to get the driver’s attention.

The post had drawn almost 300 comments in its first 20 hours of going live on social media, with many praising Mrs Moses’s evasive manoeuvres.

“So glad you and the driver of the Mazda are safe, driver of Mazda did an incredible job of avoiding what could have been an absolute disaster,” Tania Hall said.

Judy Edmonds said she was “so glad the lady and her children in the Mazda are OK”.

“I think that road needs regular patrols not so much the mobile speed cameras,” Ms Edmonds said.

Ricky Lepre said Mrs Moses showed “great defensive driving”.

Originally published as Widgee woman fined over shocking near-miss caught on camera