The incident occurred after a tree broke off in the wind and fell in Maori Rd on Tuesday afternoon.
The partner of the driver, who declined to be named, said the driver was in his work truck.
"The tree was splitting and falling right as he drove.
"He had to slam on the accelerator just to get through. It crashed right behind him.
"He’s pretty shocked by it all, just terrifying.
"He was just very shaken by the whole incident and very grateful that it wasn’t worse."
The driver declined to be interviewed.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand initially responded to the incident about 2pm on Tuesday, and contractors spent much of the past two days clearing the road.
The Otago Daily Times has also reported on trees falling in Maori Rd in 2016 and 2018.
A Dunedin City Council spokeswoman said staff had made an initial assessment of the tree and found there were no obvious signs that would indicate the tree would fail.
"Tree failure in strong winds or other adverse weather conditions does happen, but contractors will undertake checks of other large trees in the area as a precaution," she said.
