REGIONAL drivers continue to contribute to a high percentage of the state’s road toll, with country roads accounting for 60 per cent of fatal collisions according to Inspector Mark Atkinson, officer in charge of Road Policing Section and Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n
\u201cFatal collisions continue to be disproportionately concentrated in the country and regional areas, reflecting a long standing and persistent pattern in SA,\u201d Inspector Atkinson advised.<\/p>\n
The majority of people who died on South Australian roads in the first three months of 2026 were driving in regional areas, with Inspector Atkinson attributing higher speed limits, less forgiving road infrastructure, heavy vehicles and fewer protective barriers as just some factors that lead to higher fatality rates in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrivers may feel safer on open roads and underestimate hazards such as road edges, wildlife or surface conditions, even though collisions at these speeds are far more severe,\u201d Inspector Atkinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest misconception regional drivers tend to have about road safety is that quiet, familiar roads are safer roads,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany drivers equate low traffic volumes and local knowledge with low risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tragically, Inspector Atkinson said most serious regional crashes involve local people on roads they regularly travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost regional road lives lost occur within 10kms of the person\u2019s home address, which is frightening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are local residents on familiar roads. These are not necessarily tourists or unfamiliar drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspector Atkinson said statistics show that country drivers are also more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour on the roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cLonger travel times, limited public transport options and fewer rest opportunities means drivers are more likely to push on while tired or driving after drinking, particularly where the perceived likelihood of enforcement is low,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Inspector Atkinson said that according to SAPOL data recorded over the past five years, 74 per cent of fatal crashes and 59 per cent of serious injury crashes in country regions involved at least one of The Fatal Five: drink and drug driving; speeding, distraction, seatbelts and dangerous road users.<\/p>\n
Sub heading: The Fatal Five: drink and drug driving; speeding, distraction, seatbelts and dangerous road users.<\/p>\n
One of the more surprising trends identified by SAPOL is the number of seatbelt offences that are a contributing factor in regional crashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do see an over-representation of speeding, distraction, drink and drug driving and for some reason which is unbeknown to us, the failure to wear seatbelts, particularly in country and regional areas as opposed to metropolitan areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know why that\u2019s the case, but the wearing of seatbelts does seem to be a contributing factor to lives lost and serious injuries, more so in the regions than it does in metro, particularly in the regional area where farming vehicles that might be a 20 or 30-year-old ute where the driver\u2019s driving on country roads and just not wearing the seatbelts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does seem to be a consistent practice on regional roads.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drink and drug driving was the largest contributor in SAPOL\u2019s regional crash data, contributing to 22 per cent of fatal and serious injury collisions.<\/p>\n
Inspector Atkinson said many offenders were accustomed to looking for marked police cars before driving home and in response, SAPOL has started deploying unmarked police vehicles in South Australia\u2019s regional communities under \u2018Operation Bluff\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe locals would look for a marked police car and when there was no red and blue police car in the street, they\u2019d get in their car and they\u2019d drive home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said police had noted concerning levels of offending among middle-aged local residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are having a high detection rate of local residents who again, coming back to that familiarity and the complacency, (are) getting in their vehicles after being at the hotel or at the sporting club and running the gauntlet to get to their home address,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Inspector Atkinson noted that Friday to Sunday remains the highest risk period.<\/p>\n
He urged regional road users to remain attentive when driving, and not to become complacent when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these people\u2026 working regionally and living regionally\u2026 this is all they\u2019ve known,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know the roads, they\u2019re familiar with the roads. They don\u2019t ever expect to get into a motor vehicle and think that it\u2019s going to be their last time.\u201d<\/p>\n