Apart from the suffering of victims and their loved ones, the financial cost of fatalities and injuries to our community is over $900 million each year.

In 2002 the rate of deaths on South Australian roads was 10.1 per 100,000 population. For the 12 months ending December 2010, despite the large increase in vehicle use, the rate has reduced to 7.2 per 100,000 population.

With the key objective of reducing the road toll, the State Government recently released the South Australian Road Safety Strategy 2020 - Towards Zero Together which promotes strategies in the key areas of Safer Roads, Safer Speeds, Safer People and Safer Vehicles.

The strategy sets a target for South Australia to meet the challenge of the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 to reduce serious casualty trauma by at least 30% during the decade.

2011 road fatalities and serious injuries in South Australia

Over the last 5 years (2006-2010), South Australia recorded an average annual decrease of 3.7% in the number of fatalities. Over the same period, the national average dropped 3.3%.