Video shows harrowing moment cyclists swerved onto highway during Penticton race

Dashcam footage posted to Twitter shows the harrowing moment a driver was forced to swerve to avoid cyclists who veered onto the highway while participating in Penticton's Granfondo bike race.

The video shows the cyclists clustered together in a section of Highway 97 between Penticton and Summerland. Two riders bump into each other, causing cyclists to swerve into a lane of vehicle traffic.

Shaun Siebert was driving his truck north on the highway just after 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning and had to suddenly swerve to avoid the cyclists.

"I'm just glad there was no oncoming traffic, it could have been pretty bad," he said.

Siebert said he uploaded the video to alert other drivers to what can happen while driving in close proximity to a cycling event.

"I just wanted to give drivers the heads up to say watch out, these guys can be unpredictable, they're driving so close to each other."

Watch the moment a car swerved to avoid hitting the cyclists:

Jeff Plant, director of the event, said he was grateful the driver was abiding by reduced speed laws and was mindful of traffic signs warning of the event.

"When you organize cycling events, you realize that bikers will fall down. There was obviously no intention by those riders to move into the vehicle lane. It's unfortunate that it happened," he said.

Plant said the event has a detailed traffic management and safety plan.

"We spend an enormous amount of time to make this a safe event ... and we hope to keep going and keep building on our safety."