SAPOL campaign to eliminate Fatal Five and reduce SA road deaths

South Australian drivers urged to take responsibility for the safety of all road users

SAPOL Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott. Picture: Russell Millard

South Australia’s devastating road toll is close to reaching the highest number of people dying or being seriously injured on our roads since 2019.

Already this year, 108 people have lost their lives in 101 fatal crashes, with a further 794 road users receiving serious injuries. The numbers are jarringly close to 2019, which saw 114 deaths from 110 fatal crashes and 833 serious injuries. “This year is headed to outdo 2019, which is really sad for the people and families involved,” SAPOL Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott says.

An increase in the number of deaths and injuries that can be attributed to the Fatal Five – speeding, drink and drug driving, distractions, dangerous driving and not wearing a seatbelt – is a cause for concern. “Alarmingly, over the past five to six years, we’ve seen increases in the categories of speeding, drink and drug driving and distraction contributing to the loss of life of the driver or an innocent road user they have killed,” AC Parrott says.

“Research shows that doing 5km above the speed limit doubles your chances of being involved in a fatal or serious injury crash. A lot of these lives lost and serious injuries are completely preventable if people do the right thing.”

Drivers should also do an honest self-assessment of their emotional and mental health before getting behind the wheel. “All of us have a lot of things going on in our lives and those thoughts can sometimes be distracting,” AC Parrott says. “Everybody should be taking stock of where they’re at individually when they hop behind the wheel, on a motorbike or pushbike or even walking. If you’re angry or frustrated, you’re more likely to drive aggressively or take unnecessary risks. We want people to take responsibility for their own actions and their own behaviour on our roads.”

Complacency and over-estimation of a person’s own driving skills are also risk factors. “Many people think it’s never going to happen to them because they’re a good driver – well, there’s 108 people so far this year who will tell you differently,” AC Parrott says. “There are families, friends and workmates who are experiencing loss and grief. It doesn’t just affect the person in the car – it affects everyone around them.”

This festive season, SAPOL’s Operation Safe Holidays statewide road safety campaign is urging all South Australian road users to do the right thing. “People doing the wrong thing will be caught because we don’t want this terrible year to continue,” AC Parrott says.

Simple steps such as careful journey planning could make the difference between arriving safely at a destination – or not arriving at all. “It’s about cutting out all distractions and frustrations,” AC Parrott says. “If you factor an extra hour into your trip for heavy traffic and road works, you’re likely to be more chilled out while driving, you’re more likely to plan rest breaks and not get angry or frustrated if you are delayed. It’s often when that frustration kicks in that people start taking dangerous risks on the road, which ends up in a world of hurt, not just on that day but often years into the future.

“Drivers need to remember that road safety is not just all about them. Everyone has a big responsibility to everybody else on the road network as well. That is the key.”

The long road to recovery

Kym Inglis lost his wife and two daughters in a car crash in 2010. Picture: Russell Millard

Almost 14 years after losing his wife and two daughters in a car crash, Kym Inglis continues to be an advocate for road safety.

Inglis’ wife Melania, 40, daughters Logan, 7, and Claudia, 10, and friend Georgia Pearce, 10, all died at Williamstown on their way to the Barossa Valley in 2010. Twelve months after the accident, Inglis became actively involved with road safety programs across the state in an effort to prevent another family going through a similar trauma.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I can’t let this happen without something changing or something good coming out of it’ – because there was no part that was good on any level,” he says.

“I needed to get people to think twice about some of the risks they take on the roads.”

In the immediate aftermath of the death of his family, Inglis was supported by former victim support officer (VCO), Senior Constable First Class Kylee Simpson.

“Kylee was my go-to person throughout the investigation of the crash,” he says. “It was only later that I found out I was her first case. She really helped me through a lot of it.”

Major Crash Investigator, Brevet Sergeant Anna Gallamore. Picture: Russell Millard

Major Crash investigator, Brevet Sergeant Anna Gallamore, says the VCO is a specialist role. “VCOs manage victims and witnesses and act as a conduit between the victims and the investigators,” she says. “They deal with the victims, the families and the witnesses but not the investigation. They will liaise with the family, touch base with witnesses, talk about counselling options and return property.

“It is a specialist role and they are recruited into that because they want to help deal with victims and offer them the right services at the time when they’re most vulnerable, when they’ve lost a loved one or have witnessed something terrible.”

In most cases, the VCO will be with the families for the duration of the investigation, which can often take up to several years to complete. “If it’s a criminal case, they will stay with that family from the day of the crash to three, four or five years down the line and beyond. There’s a strong relationship there.”

For the VCOs in turn, SAPOL offers an extensive support network. “We have an employees assistance section, psychologists and nurses,” Brevet Sergeant Gallamore says. “But aside from the formal help and support, we also have our own peer support, supervisors and management.

“We’re trained to deal with and process what we see and to be resilient but we’re all human beings. And we also look out for our peers – we can see if somebody is not acting as they would do normally or there are signs they’re affected.

We don’t just care about ourselves, we look out for each other. We’re a team.”

Watch Kym Inglis’ story here.

Investing in a safer future

Department for Infrastructure and Transport CEO Jon Whelan. Picture: Supplied

Significant investment from the Australian and South Australian governments will create safer roads across South Australia and reduce fatalities by up to 50 per cent.

The Adelaide Hills Productivity and Road Safety Package – a $150 million initiative – aims to support economic growth, improve road safety and increase fire resilience, while a further $168 million will be used to upgrade regional roads from one to three stars.

“Every star approximately halves the risk of death or serious injury,” says Jon Whelan, CEO, Department for Infrastructure and Transport. “We’ll be focusing on about eight regional roads. Some of those roads are in the country and the five-year average tells us we are over-represented with people in the country for fatalities.”

Road improvements will include road resurfacing to improve skid resistance, improving and widening sealed shoulders, installation of Rural Junction Advanced Warning Systems and safety barriers and widening of side roads to reduce drag out of loose debris and new line marking. A regional road safety $10 million budget will be spent on shoulder sealing on the Spencer Hwy.

“We’re now looking at the road safety plans for motorcyclists,” Whelan says. “We have a compulsory rider training course, Rider Safe, which provides basic and advanced skills. We have also Think! Road Safety in partnership with sporting clubs and sports people. We have 21 partnerships and this financial year we’re going to spend around $2.7 million getting the message out around the Fatal Five – drink and drug driving, speeding, distraction, no seatbelts and dangerous road users.”

New cameras to detect mobile phone use are also scheduled to be rolled out at high-risk locations across metropolitan Adelaide in the first half of 2024.