Stunt car slams into fence during filming of road safety campaign in South Australia

A planned crash as part of a film for road safety in South Australia quickly turned into a real one after one of the vehicles slammed into a nearby fence, almost hitting other parked cars.

A stunt for a police road safety advertisement in South Australia quickly turned into a real road emergency when a car crashed into a fence – right under the nose of the state’s police minister and senior officers.

Production crews had staged both cars to collide as part of the stunt for a road safety commercial focusing on seatbelts, which was being filmed on Port Rd in Alberton, in Adelaide’s west.

The cars’ spectacular collision on Port Rd in Alberton was planned as part of a road safety campaign organised by the SA State Government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

But the stunt went awry when one of the cars – which was unoccupied – continued to travel and collided with a nearby fence, almost hitting other vehicles parked on the street. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

But in wild footage, one of the cars continued to travel after the filmed collision, crashing into a nearby fence and narrowly missing other cars parked on the street.

The car was unoccupied and no-one was injured, South Australia (SA) Police confirmed.

Sarah, a store manager of the nearby Habitat for Humanity ReStore, said it could have been “really disastrous and dangerous”.

“Potentially, it could have driven into the shop,” she told 9News.

Sarah, the store manager of Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Port Rd, was outside the scene of the crash. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

SA Police Minister Joe Szakacs was at the scene to watch the film and saw the unplanned crash himself.

Safety adviser Clay Dunn admitted he was not able to explain why the unoccupied car trailed off but it was lucky enough safety precautions were in place at the time.

Emergency services were already on scene as a contingency and were not required.

In a statement, an SA Police spokesman said all safety precautions were taken and clarified crashes could still occur even in a controlled environment.

The incident happened right under the noses of senior police and SA’s Police Minister Joe Szakacs, who were on scene to watch the filming. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

The crash will be investigated by SA Police, a spokesman confirmed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

“The crash is being investigated by police,” the spokesman said.

The advertisement itself is attempting to drive home a strong message to people who flout seatbelt rules in the state.

Set to appear on television, radio, billboards and online next month, the campaign distinguishes between the risks between driving in regions and metropolitan roads without a seatbelt.

Inspector Jaimi Burns, Traffic Services Branch Acting Officer in Charge, said the campaign is the result of rigorous research and a depiction of real outcomes of crashes involving people who failed to wear a seatbelt.

“We’ve heard it all before – people who commit seatbelt offences are drivers and passengers who won’t wear a seatbelt because they forgot, think they don’t need to if they’re driving slowly or going a short distance,” he said.

The moment the unoccupied car continued to travel after the planned collision was captured on camera. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

“They also think they won’t get caught or feel uncomfortable wearing a seatbelt.

“In 2023, not wearing a seatbelt was a factor in the case of 10 per cent of the lives lost and two per cent of the people who sustained serious injuries in a crash.

“In addition, police expiated 2907 people for not wearing a seatbelt.”

Originally published as Stunt car slams into fence during filming of road safety campaign in South Australia