Dashcam captures car nearly hitting pedestrian at crosswalk

Footage from a dashboard camera captured in Richmond on Sunday, shows how close a car came to hitting a pedestrian.

Allan Wilson posted the footage to YouTube where it has received more than 6,000 views already.

Wilson tells Global News he captured the footage while driving south on No. 1 Road, a few blocks south of Westminster Highway, around 1:30 p.m.

He said it was bright out so he was unable to see the pedestrian until he got a little closer.

“The dark shadows contrasting with the bright blue sky made it quite hard to spot him and all his dark clothing,” Wilson said. “My friend who was riding in the passenger seat even says something about how hidden the pedestrian was right before it happened.”

Wilson slowed down and stopped to allow the pedestrian to cross at the crosswalk.

However, the car travelling behind him clearly didn’t want to stop.

All of a sudden, an orange SUV comes into frame, swerving around Wilson’s car and speeds through the crosswalk, narrowly avoiding hitting the pedestrian.

Luckily the pedestrian was paying attention and jumped out of the way.

Dash camera use is growing in B.C. and founder of BlackboxMyCar.com, Alex Jang, said his dashcams and those he has sold have captured everything from hit-and-runs to vandalism.

The growing popularity of dashcams and the ever improving quality of the footage they produce are changing the way police and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) approach crash investigations.

“As technology progresses, we’re seeing more types of all digital evidence becoming part of customers’ claims,” ICBC senior communications specialist, Lindsay Olsen said

She said many customers use smartphones now so they see more photographic and video evidence than they used to.

-with files from Kristen Robinson