This is the terrifying moment two women were inches from being crushed to death after a four-tonne steel pipe fell onto their car.

Driver Natthaija Chanthanakhiri, 33, and friend Panadda Akkaradamrongdej, 35, were stuck in traffic in the white Mercedes E-Class on August 8 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Businesswoman Natthaija saw the huge tube used for pile drilling start swaying and screamed as she watched it fall towards her.

The 15-metre-long and 80cm wide metal pipe landed on her bonnet, causing the airbags to deploy. The passenger, Panadda, was rushed to hospital with minor injuries but was not seriously hurt.

Shaken Natthaija said: ''I saw pipe start moving and I could see it falling. There was a traffic jam with a car in front and another behind. I couldn't move out of the way.

''I'm very shocked. If we were a little bit further forward the pipe could have killed us both.''

Dashcam footage from the car behind them shows how near they were to being crushed by pipe.

Another female motorist, who was in the car behind with her husband, branded the accident a ''very bad health and safety failure''.

She declined to be named but said she wanted people to see the shocking construction blunder which was captured by her in-car camera. She is hear in the footage saying: ''Oh, shhh. That's not good. That's very bad.''

Police arrived on the scene at 5.30pm and established that the pipe was being used as part of construction work to widen the road.

Maj. Gen. Prachatiporn Thongchai from the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority said officials were now investigating the cause of the accident.