South Australia recorded 12 road fatalities in January 2025, making it the deadliest start to a year since 2019, according to data from the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA).
The incidents were evenly distributed between metropolitan and regional areas.
All six regional crashes involved single vehicles running off the road, including two incidents involving cyclists. In metropolitan Adelaide, five of the six fatalities were vulnerable road users, consisting of three pedestrians and two motorcyclists.
RAA senior manager of road safety Charles Mountain said the trend reflected broader concerns about rising road trauma across Australia, including South Australia.
“Across December and January, 23 lives were lost on SA roads – the worst two months on our roads since early 2023, which was a catastrophic year on our roads,” he said.
In 2024, several tourism regions in South Australia saw an increase in fatal crashes, according to RAA data. The Barossa, Fleurieu Peninsula/Kangaroo Island, and Limestone Coast regions recorded higher fatality numbers compared to the five-year average from 2019 to 2023.
The increases were recorded as follows:
In contrast, some areas saw a decline in fatal crashes, including the Murray and Mallee (-56%) and Yorke and Mid North (-49%).
Nationally, Australia’s road toll reached a 60-year high in 2024, continuing a four-year upward trend despite advancements in vehicle safety technology.
Mountain said RAA continued to advocate for the “Safe Systems” approach to road safety, which includes improving road infrastructure, promoting safer vehicles, setting appropriate speed limits, and encouraging responsible driver behaviour.
“We need ongoing focus and investment across all of these areas,” he said. “We’ve long called for duplication of the national highway network, including the Augusta, Sturt, and Dukes Highways, and addressing our $2bn road maintenance backlog.”
Recent RAA data also revealed that more than 600 incidents of children and pets were locked inside vehicles in South Australia in 2024.
The motoring group said it responded to 629 calls for assistance involving locked vehicles last year. Of these cases, 287 involved children, while 342 related to pets. Many incidents occurred when drivers accidentally locked their keys inside their car, left keys with a child in the back seat, or when pets inadvertently stepped on the central locking system.
RAA senior traffic engineer Matt Vertudaches warned that in hot weather, temperatures inside a locked vehicle could become dangerous within minutes.
“When the weather is hot like it is this week, the temperature inside a locked car will climb to dangerous levels within minutes, and the consequences of leaving a loved one in there could be catastrophic,” he said.
Tests conducted by RAA found that in-cabin temperatures could exceed 80 degrees Celsius in under 30 minutes on a 40-degree day.
Motorists who find themselves in this situation are urged to seek immediate assistance.
“RAA will prioritise jobs where a person or pet is locked in a vehicle and send two patrols out as soon as we can – and you don’t need to be a member,” Vertudaches said. “However, if you’re worried about the occupant being distressed or unsafe, call emergency services as they may be able to arrive faster with lights and sirens.”