Scary huntsman spider puts Australian man in lake

A driver in Australia had a lucky escape after his car ended up in a lake due to a scare by a huntsman.

The man had been spring cleaning his house, and was on the way to the rubbish tip at Lake Cathie in New South Wales on Monday with when the accident happened.

He saw the spider on him and panicked as he came around a bend in the road, the Camden Haven Courier reported.

"I meant to hit the brake but instead I accidentally hit the accelerator," he said.

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Instead of turning around the bend, the Toyota Prado went over the bank of Lake Cathie and stopped in the water where it proceeded to sink.

"I was surprised at how deep it was," the driver said.

He said he couldn't get his door open as it was locked but managed to exit through his window which was already three-quarters open.

There were no other passengers in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Two NSW Rural Fire Service vehicles and one Fire and Rescue NSW vehicle were also in attendance.

A process of recovery is underway.

High rains in rural NSW are currently bringing all kinds of bugs in Aussie homes, as water fills up empty lakes. 

The average huntsman spider is about 2.5cm long, with a leg span of up to 12.7cm.

However, the giant huntsman can have a leg span of up to 30cm - making it the largest arachnid by diameter and earning the description of being "the size of a dinner plate".

You might want to drive into fire to get rid of that one.