A road safety campaign launched by New Zealand's largest privately owned transport company shows some terrifying near misses captured by its drivers.

HW Richardson Group is calling out the dangerous choices motorists are making on the road.

Video: HW Richardson Group/Stuff.

As the holiday season approaches, the Southland-based company is reminding motorists to ask themselves if the driving choices they are making are worth the risk.

The company is set to launch a digital driver safety campaign called Almost Dead, challenging motorists to consider the consequences of their careless driving.

The campaign has partnered with motorsport legend Greg Murphy to deliver the road safety messages.

HWR chief executive Anthony Jones says its group of companies in the heavy transport, petroleum, contracting and concrete sectors, have more than 1300 trucks and heavy vehicles on the roads.

Those drivers are seeing too many near misses as the result of poor driving from road users.

The Almost Dead safety campaign features the use of real-life footage from the in-cab cameras in HWR trucks.

Jones says the footage is a small insight into the daily experience of an HWR driver; watching drivers pass on blind corners, misjudging distances and outright dangerous driving.

Some ended up not being near misses.

Brake NZ director of road safety charity Caroline Perry says she supports the message HW Richardson is sharing.

Trucks throughout the country are moving around Christmas gifts, groceries, fuel and much more and their drivers want to get home safely to their families each day, the same as everyone else on the road.

'It's important for all road users to remember that trucks move differently to other vehicles. It takes them longer to stop or move to avoid a hazard. They also have a top speed limit of 90km/h so may be travelling more slowly than others on roads with a higher speed limit.

'When you're driving around trucks make sure you give them plenty of room, leave ample following distance so you can see the driver's mirrors (which means they can see you), and don't take risks, so both you and them can make it home," says Perry.

Jones says he knows people don't go out on the road to purposely drive badly, but sometimes a minority chose to make poor decisions which leads to close calls or catastrophic outcomes.

'Almost Dead is timely a reminder to think through your driving actions and ask yourself if trying to make that gap or passing that car towing a trailer is really worth it, is that 30 seconds really worth the rest of your life.”

-Evan Harding/Stuff.