The man who captured the footage of a motorcyclist's split-second dodge of an oncoming van says there have been other crashes at that intersection.

The footage shows the moment a man comes off his motorbike and slides across the road - just as a van towing a trailer rockets past.

The near-miss, which would rival any "win" compilation, was shot at Invercargill's Hardy and Pomona streets' intersection about 12.15pm on Tuesday.

It shows the motorcyclist coming off as he enters the intersection. He avoids being run over by a split second as the driver of the van, which was towing a trailer, swerves to avoid man and machine.

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Amazingly, the rider walks away, seemingly unscathed.

The footage of the incident was captured by Invercargill resident Peter Van Der Schuit on home security cameras.

Van Der Schuit said he had gone home from work for lunch when he came across the accident on the street outside his home.

The motorbike was still sitting in the middle of the road and people were directing traffic around the crash site, so Van Der Schuit looked at his security camera footage to see if he captured the incident.

He had installed cameras at his home for security and had one left over which he installed looking over the intersection, he said.

"It's good entertainment."

There had been a number of accidents over the years at the intersection, Van Der Schuit said.

Van Der Schuit later showed the footage of Tuesday's incident to a coworker who encouraged him to put it on YoutTube.

Resident Donelda Bowman said she heard "screeching" and went to have a look.

"By the time I got out there he was back at the bike trying to pick it up," she said.

"There was bits and pieces everywhere. You can see all these scratch marks on Hardy St."

Bowman said the rider put his bike up against her house and ran off.

"Police looked and looked for him and couldn't find him," Bowman said.

The van driver stopped just up the road and spoke to police, she said. The bike was towed away.

Acting Southland Area road policing manager Acting Senior Sergeant Deon McNaught said police had viewed the footage and believe speed and rider-inexperience were major contributing factors to the crash, but investigations were continuing.

"Speed is vital in a crash – regardless of the cause or who is at fault, speed is the single factor that most affects the outcome. Just a few kilometres per hour can be the difference between avoiding a collision completely or a crash with a tragic outcome, particularly with our motorcyclists who are more vulnerable on our roads."

"We're very lucky we're not dealing with a serious injury or fatal crash here. It's probably come down to sheer good luck and the fact that the driver of the van took instinctive, evasive action in a split second of this occurring and narrowly avoiding the rider."

The van driver's quick thinking and fast reactions potentially limited a more serious outcome, he said.

"The footage of this crash clearly demonstrates that we all need to be focused and stay alert in our day to day travels on our roads, no matter how long or short the journey may be. Hazards and crashes can occur so quickly and often without warning, and the instinctive actions of the van driver in this instance have probably saved someone from serious injury or worse"

Police crash data obtained confirmed there has been only one other reported crash at that location since January 2011.

Police have identified the rider of the motorcycle and are continuing their enquires into the crash.

The driver of the van was uninjured.

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