Drivers across Australia are being urged to take care, with a rising road toll devastating thousands of families and costing the economy billions of dollars.

Key points: Road trauma in Victoria costing between $3 billion to $4 billion every year

Road trauma in Victoria costing between $3 billion to $4 billion every year Estimated to be costing NSW economy more than $7 billion every year

Estimated to be costing NSW economy more than $7 billion every year National Road Safety Strategy aiming for at least 30pc reduction in deaths, serious injuries by 2020

There has been a concerning spike in deaths after record low numbers just a few years ago, sparking concerns about the effectiveness of road safety campaigns.

The Federal Government estimated road crashes were costing the Australian economy $27 billion a year.

Police said it had been a "horror time", while road safety campaigners like Peter Frazer warned of the severe consequences if the message about sensible driving did not get through.

"It's a grieving process that you go through for the rest of your life," Mr Frazer said.

Mr Frazer lost his daughter Sarah when she was hit by a truck, after the 23-year-old's car broke down on the Hume Highway in New South Wales in February 2012.

"While I'm very proud of the outcomes — we've created National Road Safety Week, we're doing some work both nationally and internationally as well — I wish I wasn't associated with this at all," he said.

"It's absolutely taken my life and my family's life away."

Sarah Frazer was one of thousands of people who have died on Australian roads in recent years.

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Although the road toll had dropped in some states as recently as 2014, there has been a concerning spike in the number of deaths over the past 12 to 18 months.

Professor Brian Owler, a Sydney-based neurosurgeon who has been the face of road safety campaigns in NSW, said while there were a number of reasons to reduce road trauma, the costs incurred from accidents were an "important consideration".

"The costs of providing treatment, the resources that it takes up in terms of the operating theatres, our emergency departments and hospital beds, is also very significant," he said.

"It's important that we also make that investment, to make sure that we reduce the road toll to try and reduce not only the social and emotional burden that the community faces as a result of road trauma, but also the economic costs."

'We've hidden the consequences of road carnage'

The road toll has been of particular concern for police in the states where the numbers have jumped more than 10 per cent in the past 12 months.

In Victoria, someone is injured every two hours on the road, and a person dies every day and a half.

Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer, from Victoria's Road Policing Command, said countless families and communities were grieving loved ones who should not have died.

"Road trauma, just in Victoria alone... the cost is anywhere between $3 [billion] and $4 billion. It's an extraordinary number," he said.

"But this is about lives, it's about real people, and you talk to anyone who's lost a loved one to road trauma, they simply do not get over it.

"We just need everyone to take this very personally.

"Even our own members, so the emergency services who turn up at these horrific scenes.

"Whilst they may not remember the names of the dead, they certainly never forget the faces that they've seen that have been ruined to road trauma."

In NSW, road crashes are now estimated to be costing the economy more than $7 billion every year, with $3.5 billion of that used to treat almost 12,000 people in the state's hospitals.

Mr Frazer questioned whether the current efforts to address the problem were working.

"You can imagine, if we had a plane crash every single month, losing 100 people on board, there'd be outrage," he said.

"But there's not, because we've hidden road safety or the consequences of road carnage from everyone's public view."

The National Road Safety Strategy is aiming for at least a 30 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2020.