Truckie forced to choose between crushing 4WD or running off road

It was truly a case of "the highway to hell".

A Northern Territory road almost turned into a scene from Mad Max when a fully loaded road train narrowly avoided collision with a 4WD.

Dashcam footage released on Facebook captured the moment the 4WD tried to overtake another truck, leaving Australians stunned.

“That person should lose their licence for a very long time,” Facebook commenter Shaun Toomey wrote.

“They obviously can't drive safely. That could have been carnage.”

The video shows the road train rushing headlong towards the 4WD, only narrowly missing collision with the driver.

It is believed the 4WD owner was returning from last weekend’s Darwin V8 Supercars races.

“This doesn't surprise me at all,” another Facebook commenter, Julianne Elaine, wrote. “You should try driving around the streets of Darwin when the V8's are on, every idiot thinks they are a race car driver.”

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To add a touch of irony to the close call on Hell's highway, the dangerous driver was from the Jesus Racing Team.

Following the wide-ranging criticism, the team made an apology on Facebook for the driver they described as "a very nice human being that has been through a lot in life".

"Our driver made a stupid decision, he was waved past by the guy in with the caravan in front, he pulled out and instead of hitting the brakes and pulling back in he misjudged the situation," the Jesus Racing Team wrote.

They added the scathing comments would be left up as a "sign of respect to the fact that we agree this is indeed a dreadful example of poor decision making, that having been said we are also trying to support the guy as well as he is feeling pretty dreadful".