The faces behind the shattering impact of 40+ lives lost on South Australian roads so far in 2024
Fletch was a dad, Shakeena was a beautiful soul, Ian and Rose died together and Max was just 18. These are the South Australians killed on our roads so far in 2024.
SA News
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Tyson Snashall will never hold his daughter again after his car struck a tree.
Couple Ian and Rose Hampel died together after a crash took their lives in an instant.
Shane Jenkins was on his way to see his parents.
Kayla Wright held on to life in an induced coma for four days before she tragically died after falling from her bike.
These are among the 44 lives already lost on South Australian roads in 2024 compared with 64 at the same time last year.
The youngest was Penola’s Max Gartner – a “loved big baby brother” – who was just 18 when he was killed in February.
The oldest -a 94 year old Barmera man – died in a Riverland crash in April.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ALL FACES AND READ THEIR STORIES
Superintendent Darren Fielke from the SA Police traffic services branch said current trends show majority of lives lost have occurred in rural areas with 31 lives lost in rural areas compared with 13 in the metropolitan area.
“Weekdays, particularly Fridays are higher for lives lost than weekends,” he said.
“It has also been noted that so far this year, male drivers have been the highest type of road user to lose their lives and in fact 80 per cent of all lives lost on our roads have been male.
“Consistent with previous years, trends indicate that it is country people dying on country roads.
“There has been a small decrease so far in 2024 in the number of lives lost and serious injuries relating to motorcycles compared with the same time in 2023.”
While the age of those who have lost their lives have varied, the largest amount of lives lost has been for people aged 70 plus with 15 lives lost as well as people in the 16 to 24 year old age group with eight lives lost.
Supt Fielke said dangerous driving and/or distraction have been the highest contributing factor to lives lost in 2024.
“Trends show that the main type of crashes involve head on collisions, hitting fixed objects and right turn collisions,” he said.
“It should be noted that seatbelts were not being worn by three people who have lost their life and this contributed to the fatal outcome.
“Doing the simple thing like putting your seatbelt on can save your life.”
He said driving is a complex task and outcomes of these crashes are “life changing for all involved”.
“Even though the number of lives lost is lower than this time last year now is not the time, nor is there any time, to be complacent on the roads.”
RAA road safety and infrastructure senior manager Charles Mountain said “while South Australia is tracking better than the horrendous year on our roads we had last year — the number of lives lost and serious injuries are still devastating”.
“As people prepare to flock to the regions with school holidays coming up we’re urging motorists to take more care on our roads,” he said.
“If you’re driving on country roads please adhere to the speed limit, avoid distraction and allow ample travel time to have breaks and rest to avoid fatigue.”
An earlier version of this article
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