South Australians are being urged to have their say on a new 10-year road safety strategy that aims to halve the number of lives lost on our roads.
South Australia's Road Safety Strategy to 2031 (the draft Strategy) proposes an ambitious 10-year target to dramatically reduce road tragedies, with hopes of achieving a drop from the current three-year average of 96 per year to less than 47 per year by 2031.
The draft Strategy also sets a target to reduce serious injuries on our roads by 30 per cent by 2031 – a reduction from 708 to fewer than 515 on average.
Targets are calculated based on South Australia's population using the Australian Bureau of Statistics' population projection to 2031.
Road Safety Minister Vincent Tarzia said the targets are the first steps towards achieving our vision of zero lives lost by 2050.
"Your opinions, views and input will save lives and prevent serious injuries on our roads. I cannot be any clearer – we need all South Australians to help make our roads safer," Minister Tarzia said.
"Whether you drive, ride, walk or are a passenger, your feedback is crucial in helping us create a safer South Australia for every road user.
"Our goals are ambitious, but they must be to put an end to preventable tragedies on our roads.
"We appreciate your initial feedback and now have a draft Strategy that sets the agenda to help create safer communities for every South Australian.
"Now we want as many South Australians as possible to provide feedback on the draft Strategy, which is available at the yourSAy website.
"South Australia's Road Safety Strategy to 2031 draft highlights our new targets to reduce lives lost and serious injuries on our roads, as we continue to work towards zero lives lost by 2050."
The proposed strategic focus areas of the draft Strategy are:
- Road user behaviour: Supporting and enforcing safer road behaviour.
- Vehicles: Increasing the use and purchase of safer vehicles in South Australia.
- Roads: Safer design, construction and maintenance of road infrastructure.
- Regional and remote areas: Reducing the number of lives lost and serious injuries on regional and remote roads.
- Workplaces: Developing a culture of road safety in South Australian workplaces.
- Aboriginal road safety: Reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal people in road crashes.
- Older road users: Greater focus on road users aged 70 and older.
- Walking and cycling: Improving safety for people who walk and ride.
- Young drivers and riders: Focus on young people living in regional or remote areas and reducing their over-representation in road crashes.
Read South Australia's Road Safety Strategy to 2031 draft and submit your feedback by completing a short survey at yoursay.sa.gov.au/road-safety. Written submissions can also be emailed to [email protected].
The community consultation period remains open until 5pm on 1 September 2021.
