Police will be on the look-out for motorists disobeying level crossing flashing lights and stop signs, vehicles queuing over the railway tracks, speeding near level crossings and drivers who are distracted by illegal use of mobile phones.

The campaign is one of four the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command runs per year around the state, this being the first in the Maitland area.

The start of the campaign comes just a day after a man died when his vehicle was struck by a train at a level crossing north of Narrabri.

"It's a timely reminder," Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Senior Sergeant Michael Timms said. "The man was local to the area so we want to remind locals of the dangers."

Here in the Lower Hunter, two cars were hit by trains in a five month period at the Mitchell Avenue crossing in Kurri Kurri between 2017 and 2018. Luckily, neither accident was fatal.

Speaking from the Oakhampton rail crossing, Senior Sergeant Timms said with the rapid population growth in Maitland's west, more cars were using that junction.

He said people who lived near crossings were often complacent and didn't check properly as trains may not come all the time.

"If there's lights there people may disobey them, or if there's a stop sign they might just glance," he said.

"It's a $448 fine and three demerit points for disobeying the display, but that's a small price compared to what you'd pay if you were hit by a train."

Senior Sergeant Timms said while accidents at crossings were not as common as other road crashes, the results could be much more disastrous.

He mentioned the Kerang train accident in Victoria in 2007, where 11 train passengers were killed when a train and truck collided.

"There can be devastating consequences," Senior Sergeant Timms said.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said that despite the high consequences, people were still ignoring warnings at level crossings.

"Police issued almost 1,000 penalty notices for level crossing traffic offences in the past two years," he said.

"In our most recent campaign in Tamworth, a motorist stopped on the tracks for six seconds waiting for traffic ahead to clear and that driver was also unlicensed."

"This is why we need to continue running these localised campaigns and reinforce our Train to Stop message to motorists at level crossings".

Between July 2008 and June 2018 there were 67 collisions between trains and cars at level crossings, resulting in five people losing their lives.

To reinforce the safety message, police conducted a letterbox drop around local level crossings. Electronic billboards have also been displayed reminding motorists to take care.