But for those who have survived a crash, it is not a memory they can easily forget. Already 160 people have died on the state's roads this year.

Despite people in country NSW only making up one-third of the state's population, two-thirds of all fatalities occur on country roads. In 2017, there were 160 crashes in Wagga, one of which was fatal.

The number of road incidents resulting in serious injuries rose from 36 in 2015 to 54 in 2017, forming a significant 40 per cent increase.

A Riverina mothers knows all too well the terror a car accident can cause when she thought she would bury both her boys when they called to say they were trapped in a burning car.

Ashleigh Tuala's sons Isaiah and Senio were driving to Wagga in 2017 when, after a kangaroo jumped out in front of them, the car lost control and slammed into a tree in a roadside ditch.

While the driver, Isaiah, sat slumped in his seat recovering from losing consciousness, his teen brother kicked his door hard enough to prise open a 50-centimetre gap to pull himself through.

After freeing himself, Senio saw flames licking the tyre well and bonnet and hurriedly reached in to unclip his brother's seatbelt and help him clamber out.

By the time Mrs Tuala arrived at the crash site, firefighters were dousing the car and grass fire, while paramedics attended to the young men.

"I arrived to see flashing lights everywhere, my son on the ground in a neck brace, and the other shaken and upset," she said.

"I could easily have buried both boys after the accident.

"I think about it all the time, I am worried about them all the time when they are on the road."

Mrs Tuala said her sons hadn't been doing anything wrong while driving, but they still ended up in a horrific car crash.

"They were proven to not have been speeding," she said. "They have had two accidents, both with kangaroos and on the same road. The first time the car was totalled and the second time they swerved and look what happened."

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Isaiah said he has noticed his driving habits have changed, particularly as he is on the road a lot for work.

"It is a constant reminder when I am on the road of the severity of what can happen," he said.

"When I am coming back from the city, I am always hyper-aware."

Mrs Tuala said around Henty and Wagga she sees cars and trucks speeding all the time and had a few tips for drivers to be safer.

"You're not meant to swerve when you see a kangaroo," she said.

"You can use the spikes on the headrest to break windows if you are trapped.

"It can happen to anyone, people need to be safer."

Wagga father Craig Cassimatis had to spend more than a year recovering in hospital after a weekend motorcycle trip gone wrong in 2016.

"I was with a group of seven and I lost control on a corner and sideswiped a vintage American car coming the other way, which sort of set me off down an embankment, through a fence, and down a marshy paddock, where the bike cartwheeled and threw me around," he said. "There weren't too many bones in my body that weren't broken - from the base of the skull, the spine, the neck, back, ribs, arms, and legs."

After he was airlifted from the scene, Mr Cassimatis spent nine-and-a-half months in Canberra Hospital before he was well enough to be transferred back to Wagga.

"Most of that time was spent on my back because of the injuries, and I think I had about 16 surgeries," he said.

"I got a full knee replacement on my left knee and right up my right femur, I got a screw in my left elbow, I had these external fixations on my arms and both legs for literally months, and then it was wearing braces -so I basically had to learn how to walk again.

"All in all, I spent 50 weeks in the hospital and I had 16 operations."

Mr Cassimatis said he was lucky enough to have a network of family and friends who rallied around him in support.

His mum would make the trip from Queensland to help look after him and his friends created a roster of visits to relieve the burden on his wife.

"It took a lot of pressure off them," Mr Cassimatis said.

"The car driver that I struck has kept in touch, it took him a long time to get the car fixed, but he has been really good.

"All the doctors and nurse worked tirelessly to help me through the horrific trauma and I spent three months in the new rehab facility at Wagga Base Hospital, the staff there were great."

Mr Cassimatis urged all road users to keep in mind critical safety precautions.

"Without a doubt, I would not be here today if I hadn't been wearing a full set of race leathers," he said. "Always be mindful of the road conditions."

The Australian Road Safety Foundation is imploring regional NSW drivers to be safe.

Despite road trauma being the number one killer of children aged 14 and under, and the second highest killer of young people aged under 24, new research has put the spotlight on the dangerous behaviours of regional drivers and the need for further education.

Released by ARSF in the lead up to Fatality Free Friday, on May 31, research reveals one-in-three regional drivers admit to breaking road laws or undertaking risky behaviour when their own children are in the car.

ARSF founder and CEO Russell White said this was just the tip of the iceberg, with hazardous road behaviour, for parents and non-parents alike, continuing to climb when driving solo - no matter who was waiting for them at home.

"While parents are most guilty of bad behaviour with children in the car, the majority of rural drivers seem to believe it is acceptable to take even greater risks if it's just themselves in the car," he said. "The research shows that when we're driving alone, the likelihood of taking a risk increases by roughly 20 per cent, with men more likely than women to take risks on the road.

"However, the stark reality is that any time you take a risk behind the wheel, you are putting the lives of every motorist, passenger, cyclist and pedestrian around you at risk.

"It's imperative we stamp out the idea that it's just drivers who suffer the consequences of road risk-taking."

Motorists can show their commitment to reducing the road toll by taking the pledge at arsf.com.au/take-the-pledge/.

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