Shocking footage shows the moment a lucky motorist dodged a massive boulder that plunged from a mountainside while he was driving.

Frightening dash-cam footage recorded from the car travelling behind shows the red SUV winding along a rainy road in Shennongjia, in central China's Hubei Province at around 9am on October 2.

Suddenly, a huge rock came tumbling down the mountain and missed the vehicle by a whisker as its driver quickly steered to the right to avoid it.

The driver then came to an immediate stop apparently to compose themselves after avoiding the falling rocks that punched a hole through the asphalt.

Fortunately, no injuries have been reported, but the incident has raised concerns about public safety, with locals saying 'this road is too dangerous to pass'. Others called fore 'authorities to close it immediately'.

One resident said: 'I will never dare to drive along this kind of a road in all my life. Without your driving recorder, I wouldn't be able to see this shocking scene. I can only say that the driver of the car in front was truly lucky.'

Rock landslides on mountain roads can be caused by heavy rainfall that saturates the soil and rocks on a mountain slope, making them more likely to slide.

Steep slopes, a lack of vegetation to hold boulders in place, weak or fractured rocks and poor hillside drainage can all contribute to the risks - which are hard for local authorities to mitigate against.