A powerful instillation was installed on King William Street in Adelaide yesterday, with 67 standing sunflowers symbolising each life lost on our country roads last year.
Locally, we lost 13 lives in the Murray Mallee in 2023, 15 in the Hills Fleurieu, a further 16 in Adelaide’s Southern Suburbs and six lives were lost in the Barossa region.
The emotive display is part of Rural Road Safety Month, highlighting the human cost of road trauma and underscoring our individual responsibility in preventing it.
In South Australia, the number of regional road fatalities increased by 52% last year, compared to 4.9% across the rest of the country. This meant, despite being less populated, more than half of the state’s road fatalities occurred in country areas.
With 9 in 10 SA drivers using these regional roads, it’s a statewide issue for all residents.
The Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF)’s latest research, highlights how an alarming trifecta of individual attitudes towards risk, consequence and an overall lack of rural road safety resilience may be fuelling fatal and serious incidents. Close to two-thirds (64%) of South Australians admit to unsafe driving practices and have broken a road rule in a regional area.
We’re being urged to take more care on country roads and take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of ourselves and our passengers.
