Chilling video highlights fatigue danger

Dramatic footage of a fatigued driver narrowly avoiding a head-on smash when he strayed on to the wrong side of a Pilbara highway has shocked police and chillingly reinforced the dangers of driving tired, particularly on outback roads.

The footage shows the driver of a mining van travelling in convoy drift across the road into the path of a road train travelling at more than 100km/h.

The van swerves and rolls, while the road train driver also takes evasive action.

The footage was captured on camera by one of the van driver's co-workers who was following in a truck. Both are HWE Maintenance Services employees.

A HWE spokesman said the incident happened on an afternoon in May near Newman. He said the van driver was in convoy with other workers heading to a mine site to start work after catching a flight from Perth.

The van driver walked away with minor bruises and scratches and no passengers were in the vehicle, the spokesman said.

The company released the footage to highlight the dangers of driver fatigue.

In a statement, HWE agreed the near-miss was a "serious incident of driver fatigue" but that fatigue was not an issue isolated to the mining industry.

Police attended the scene and are reportedly examining the footage to decide if further action was needed.