Adelaide woman, 27, dies after car crashes into tree and bursts into flames

A young woman from Adelaide’s western suburbs has died after her car struck a tree and burst into flames near McLaren Vale last night.

SA Police said they were called to Tatachilla Road, Tatachilla, about 7:15pm on Saturday, after a Toyota sedan crashed into a tree and burst into flames.

Police said a 27-year-old Lockleys woman — the driver and sole occupant of the car — died at the scene.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

There have now been 40 lives lost on South Australian roads this year, compared to 18 at the same time last year.

In the past week, a 56-year-old Ascot Park woman died from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run in the CBD weeks earlier, and a 51-year-old Craigmore man died after being hit by a car at Smithfield.

A new, fast-tracked road safety campaign was launched last month in a bid to improve driver behaviour as the state’s road toll continues to rise in what has been a horrific start to 2023. 

“We’re not even a quarter of the way through 2023, and we are over half way towards last year’s number of lives lost,” Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott said at the time.

Last year, a record low of 71 people died on South Australian roads according to SA Police — down from 99 in 2021 and 93 in 2020.

Speaking today, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said this year’s road toll statistics were “pretty startling”. 

“It seems as though we’re going back to more traditional figures, which means that more people are dying on our roads. And that’s a great tragedy,” he said.

“It means there are families tonight without loved ones because of accidents that are happening on our roads that, in some instances, were entirely preventable.”