That's the question NSW Central West truck driver Rod Hannifey wants travellers to ask themselves this holiday season.

He's asking drivers to look at an elderly driver and see their grandad taking it slow or think about the teenager as a daughter and have more care on the road.

"If you thought that everybody in every other car was a member of your family, would you risk their live and yours? Would you risk your passengers' lives to save two seconds to get there faster?" Mr Hannifey said.

The Christmas and new year period leads to an increased amount of vehicles on the road.

Mr Hannifey, who is also the 2020 Tony McGrane award winner for going above and beyond in his job, is encouraging people to have patience as they travel.

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He says people should also remember truck drivers were giving up their lives to make others better.

"We supply everything from the food you eat to the clothes you wear, to the furniture and everything in your house," Mr Hannifey said.

Drivers need to respect the size and weight of trucks, he said.

"If you're a pedestrian, you wouldn't step out in front of a bus and expect it to stop, would you? Yet every day I'll have someone in a car who will see me coming and think 'I've got to get in front of that truck, he'll hold me up' and just pull straight out in front of me.

"They risk their lives and mine to save two seconds on a journey that might take two hours or 10.

"The idea of a holiday is to go and visit your family, not to get killed by somebody on the way. All they've got to do is have a little bit of patience and a little bit of understanding of our jobs and the role the vehicle plays, and then if they get there safely then that's the best outcome for everybody."

Mr Hannifey has been driving trucks since he was 16-years-old. After witnessing some near misses in his truck, he started campaigning for road safety.