A couple on a motorcycle flung themselves to the ground to avoid being crushed by the wheels of a turning truck.

Dashcam footage shows the motorbike rider and his pillion passenger trying to overtake a lorry by passing through its side, but it made a turn instead in Surat Thani province, Thailand, on August 29.

The pair fell over to the gutter sustaining bruises and scratches but escaped from more serious injuries as they evaded the large vehicle.

Driver Kriangkrai Chandee who was behind the truck said: 'The incident happened in Surat Thani province. The truck was about to turn left into an alley but the turn signal was not clearly visible. That's why the students on a motorcycle didn't see it causing an accident.'

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.