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South Australian road toll climbs

Posted on February 1, 2010, 4:04pm

The state’s horror road toll jumped again at the weekend when a South East truck driver died after hitting a tree on the Riddoch Highway 32km north of Naracoorte.

The 56-year-old Mount Burr man was killed in the early hours of Saturday, taking the number of deaths on South Australia roads to 20 for the year so far, compared with six at the same time in 2009.

Police were called to the scene at 4am when a motorist reported a tree blocking the road.

They soon located the prime mover in a nearby vineyard; it had crashed through a fence on the western side of the highway.

Other emergency services were notified.

The father of five was found dead in the badly crushed cabin of the truck, which had been carrying general goods to Mount Gambier.

Investigating officers attributed the tragedy to driver fatigue, which caused the vehicle to run off the road and lose control.

The Motor Accident Commission has launched a new hard-hitting road safety campaign in a desperate bid to curb the rising road toll.

The campaign was created in just two days after South Australia recorded its worst January road toll in more than 10 years.

Real-life images from serious smashes are being included in the plea for drivers to take responsibility for their own lives, especially country drivers, as 19 of the 20 fatal smashes have occurred on rural roads.

Another 464 people have already been injured on South Australian roads so far this year.

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