One in four drivers admit to having driven through floodwater, while nearly as many admit they speed up to avoid storms.
NRMA Insurance says the results of a survey of driver behaviour during bad weather are alarming, with driver fear of being caught in slippery conditions causing behaviours that pose a greater risk.
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Why new cars float in floods
A team of engineers at UNSW has demonstrated why it can be more dangerous to drive through floodwaters in new cars than older ones.
Almost two-thirds of the 1000 motorists surveyed said they didn't feel confident in storm conditions. One in five admitted to speeding up to avoid a storm.
Nearly half of the drivers (46 per cent) who drove through flood waters said they didn't think it was dangerous.
NSW SES Acting Commissioner Greg Newton said there has been a significant increase in flood rescues, with 550 calls in the past year.
"A large percentage of those are cars. On the weekend of the big east coast low we had 300 flood rescues in a three-day period and over 200 were from cars. Tragically in at least two cases lives were lost," he said.
"People don't actually understand the risk. The stories people tell themselves include: 'The other car made it through, so can I'; 'There is traffic behind me so I have to keep going'.
"People are not understanding how little water is required to make a modern vehicle float."
He said flood water often hid damage to the road beneath, and SES rescuers had seen the road surface lift up and float away.
Mr Newton said speeding up to avoid a storm was "the most dangerous thing drivers can do".
NRMA's head of shared value, Ramana James, said NRMA data showed collision rates were increasing in NSW, and he urged motorists to consider the safety of those in their car when a storm was approaching.
"The human reaction is, I better do what I can to get out of here."
But motorists should prepare for bad weather before they drive, he said. When a storm hits, drivers need to leave enough distance with the car in front, or even pull over in a heavy storm.
There are around 13,000 collisions each month in NSW.
The high rate of motorists admitting to driving through flood water was "one of the scariest pieces of data", he said.
"It only takes shallow water for a car to become a boat that floats away."