This National Road Safety Week the SA government has decided to draw attention to the rural and regional areas of the state that are sadly overrepresented in road crash statistics.
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The SA government has found that more than 70 per cent of lives lost on South Australian roads are in regional areas.
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New road crash statistics show that more than 70 per cent of lives lost on South Australian roads are in regional areas. In repsonse the South Australian government is rolling out an education campaign to better inform rural drivers.
A new State Government initiative, supported by South Australian (SA) Police, the Country Fire Service, SA State Emergency Service and the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), will see four Road Crash Rescue (RCR) vehicles operating in key regional areas wrapped in road safety campaign materials.
Ahead of National Road Safety Week beginning this Sunday, two CFS and SASES RCR trucks have been wrapped with THINK! Road Safety imagery, funded by DIT through the THINK! Road Safety partnership.
The government says this messaging provides key actions road users can take to keep safe, including resting every two hours, wearing seatbelts and sticking to the speed limit.
The road safety messaging will also aim to act as a also a powerful reminder to country drivers that first responders too frequently attend the worst moment in someone’s life and are likely to attend crashes involving someone known to them.
A CFS appliance from the Blackwood and Yankalilla brigades, as well as SASES trucks from Roxby Downs and Murray Bridge units will adorn the imagery as they service the community in RCR response.
Providing a crucial road safety response, in 2022 Yankalilla CFS responded to 30 RCR incidents (2.5 per month) while Blackwood CFS provided service at 21 incidents (1.75 per month).
Over the last five years (2018 -2022), Yankalilla CFS attended 121 RCR incidents, averaging 24.2 incidents every year and 2.01 every month. In the same timeframe Blackwood CFS attended 136 RCR incidents, averaging 27.2 incidents every year and 2.26 per month.
SA SES Chief Officer Chris Beattie says everyone needs to do their part to make sure they are safe on the roads.
“Next week’s National Road Safety week coincides with National Volunteer Week.
As first responders, SES volunteers are often first on the scene to road crashes, especially in our state’s country areas.
“Using their skills and specialist equipment, our volunteers are the ones tasked with extracting victims from road crashes.
“They see first-hand the devastating impacts road crashes have on individuals and importantly our communities,” Beattie says.
The SES urges road users to:
*MAINTAIN your vehicle
*CHECK seatbelts and child restraints are in good condition and fitted correctly
*BE patient when driving
*OBEY the road laws
*OBSERVE road signs
*STAY alert when you are behind the wheel.
As an agency, the SASES has a fleet of 51 RCR appliances which have assisted SAPOL at more than 443 RCR incidents over the past 12 months.
Over the last five years (2018-2022) Murray Bridge SASES Unit attended 105 RCR incidents, including 17 in 2022 with Roxby Downs SASES Unit attending 23 RCR incidents in the same five year period and nine RCR incidents in 2022.
CFS Deputy Chief Officer Georgie Cornish says volunteers deserve respect and support.
“This road safety messaging is a powerful reminder to country drivers that our volunteers and these specialised vehicles too frequently attend the worst moment in someone’s life.
“Our 63 specialised Road Crash Rescue brigades attend on average four road crash incidents every week. As regional first responders, CFS volunteers are likely to attend crashes involving someone known to them, adding to the impact these incidents have on the lives of our volunteers and their loved ones,” Cornish says.
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Roxby Downs SASES responds to incidents starting from 40 kilometres north of the Woomera RAAF base on Olympic Way and services the length of the Borfield Track to where it meets the Oodnadatta Track.
Their area includes the township of the Roxby Downs and the unit supports its neighbours at Andamooka SASES unit.
Servicing a vast area of 600km2, Murray Bridge SES provides primary road crash for approximately including the Murray Bridge Township, with suburbs including Murray Bridge, Mobilong, Long Flat, White Sands, Callington, St Ives, Monarto, Monarto South, Toora, Pallamana, Mypolonga and Burdett.
National Road Safety Week 2023 is an annual initiative from the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group, partnering road safety organisations and government. The week aims to highlight the impact of road trauma and ways to reduce it and runs from the May 14 to 21.
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