As South Australians are preparing for their long weekend road trips, South Australia Police (SAPOL) is pleading with motorists to drive safely on the road this upcoming long weekend – and to arrive at their destination alive and well.
Sadly, so far this year 59 people have lost their lives on our roads, compared with 34 this time last year. A staggering 35 (59 per cent) of this year's deaths occurred on regional roads, and of those 37 per cent lost their lives within 20kms of their home.
Operation Safe Long Weekend – June will be conducted from 12.01am on Friday 09 June 2023 until midnight on Monday 12 June 2023. Police will be targeting the fatal five causes of lives lost on the roads in a traffic operation this weekend: Drink and drug driving, speeding, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt and dangerous driving.
Superintendent Darren Fielke, Officer in Charge Traffic Services Branch said every crash is preventable and every driver has a responsibility to drive to the conditions and obey life-saving road rules this weekend, and on any other day of the year.
"Paying attention, sticking to the speed limit, not driving after drinking or taking drugs, wearing a seatbelt and not behaving dangerously are all ways in which drivers can work towards keeping themselves, their passengers and other road users safe," Superintendent Fielke said.
"Drivers should also drive at an appropriate speed and maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front at all times.
"Stay patient, on longer trips take regular breaks every two hours and keep your eyes on the road, so everyone can have a safe long weekend. It's that simple."
Over the past five June long weekends, four people have lost their lives on the state's roads and 46 people have sustained serious injuries. Two of the lives lost have been in regional areas and two in metropolitan areas. Distraction has been the highest cause of serious crashes.
State-wide, 31 per cent of lives lost in 2023 have been attributed to speeding, followed by dangerous driving (27 per cent), distraction (20 per cent) and drink driving (14 per cent).
Nearly a third (29 per cent) of fatal crashes this year have occurred on a Friday in 2023 and almost half (45 per cent) of all serious injuries occurred on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of lives lost are people over 50 years of age and over a quarter (27 per cent) of fatal crashes have been the result of hitting a fixed object.
This operation further coincides with the Operation High Impact Fatal Five this month, during which Police will maintain a highly visible presence to enforce road safety compliance, educate road users, encourage safer driver behaviour and increase driver awareness of road trauma and the impact that serious and fatal crashes have on families and communities.
It is a state-wide operation that will be running until midnight 30 June 2023.
