A horror number of incidents on South Australian roads so far this year has police, politicians and public transport authorities pleading for more care to be taken.
Key points:
- South Australia has recorded 72 lives lost on its roads this year, more than all of last year
- The opposition wants to implement an incentive scheme to reward provisional drivers with an unblemished driving record
- Meanwhile, the government is calling for better care to be taken around rail crossings
According to SA Police, 72 lives have been lost and 504 serious injuries have occurred on South Australian roads this year.
“2023 has seen the worst lives lost and serious injury numbers since 2010,” Superintendent Darren Fielke said on Friday.
“Unfortunately, we have now exceeded the total number of lives lost for 2022 and we still have five months of this year to go.”
Superintendent Fielke said the statistics were “completely unacceptable” and “should serve as a serious reality check”.
“From a policing perspective, these numbers are frustrating, disappointing and disconcerting,” he said.
The state opposition believes incentives should be offered to provisional drivers with clean records in a bid to bring the road toll down.
Today it announced a policy to waive a one-year full licence renewal fee for drivers who complete their three-year provisional period with a clean record.
The incentive scheme would save P-platers $71 and would cost the government around $500,000 per year, if the Liberal party were elected in 2026.
Liberal road safety spokesman, Vincent Tarzia, said eight of the 72 lives lost on South Australian roads this year were P-platers.
“We know that P-platers and young people are over-represented when it comes to serious injuries and also lives lost on our roads,” he said.
“… So we know that we’ve got to be doing more with this cohort.”
Provisional driver Charlotte said the road statistics for her age group were “really concerning”, and the opposition’s policy could offer an incentive for young drivers to “take that extra care”.
“It can’t hurt to try and incentivise instead of just punish, because we’ve seen the effects [of penalties] aren’t really doing as well as they could be,” she said.
The 18-year-old, who will be eligible for her full licence at the end of next year, said a $71 saving on her renewal “can go a long way” particularly with the rising costs of petrol and other car-related expenses.
Mr Tarzia said he would “love to see the government adopt this policy” before the next election.
Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the government would evaluate the suggestion.
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Train drivers plead for safety around crossings
Meanwhile, the South Australian government launched a campaign calling for safety around train lines for Rail Safety Week.
Mr Koutsantonis said there had been 263 near misses involving a pedestrian or cyclist across Adelaide’s rail network in the last 12 months, and urged care to be taken when crossing tracks.
“There is no rush, there will be another train,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
“Think about the impacts not only on yourself and your loved ones but the impacts on the drivers and what it means to them.”
Train driver Tony Lombardi said he has experienced “many near misses” among the approximately 480 pedestrian crossings and 557 public level crossings on the state’s rail lines.
“If you don’t know what it feels like to have your heart take residence in your throat, just come with us for a few days and you’ll soon get to experience it,” he said.
Mr Lombardi said trains can travel at up to 110 kilometres per hour, and incidents can happen “in a flash”.
“We do our best here to make sure that we drive trains safely, it’s our top priority,” he said.
“We can’t understand why the public don’t make it their top priority.”
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