What we know about road safety in South Australia

  • State population of more than 1.75 million people
  • South Australia has a total land area of 983,482 km2
  • Where people live
    • 78% Adelaide and surrounding metropolitan areas
    • 22% regional South Australia
  • Age of vehicles
    • Across Australia: 10.4 years
    • In South Australia: 11.8 years
    • In regional South Australia: 13 years
  • Road crashes — Each year, based on the average for the past five years:
    • 95 people lost their lives
    • 688 people were seriously injured in road crashes
  • Lives lost in 2020
    • Regional South Australia recorded 14.1 lives lost per 100,000 population
    • Metropolitan Adelaide recorded 2.8 lives lost per 100,000 population
  • Drivers in regional areas
    • Over two-thirds of drivers who lose their lives or are seriously injured in regional areas are local to regional South Australia
  • SA's regional population
    • Ageing at a faster rate than that of Adelaide
    • As young people often leave for larger centres in search of opportunities, while older cohorts enter regional areas to retire.
Percentage of lives lost and serious injuries by age group, South Australia, 2016-2020
Age groupLives lostSerious injuriesPercent of population
0-154%4%19%
16-2420%20%12%
25-6953%62%56%
70+23%14%13%