A man had a lucky escape after his ute hit a kangaroo, which smashed through his windscreen, in the NSW Hunter region.

The roo was not as lucky, dying in the back seat of the ute after the crash on the Golden Highway at Jerrys Plains early on Thursday morning.

A kangaroo smashed through the windscreen of a ute at Jerrys Plains on Thursday morning. Credit:Traffic and Highway Patrol Command

Chief Inspector Phillip Brooks from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said the incident could have been more tragic if there had been a passenger, as the animal destroyed the passenger seat.

"From what's been reported to us, the roo struck the passenger seat and collapsed it," he said.