Stay safe on the road this weekend

By working together with the SACFL, local footy clubs are helping to promote the important road safety message to their players, their families, supporters and the community.

The round also provides an important opportunity for clubs who have been impacted by road trauma to reflect and remember.

Road Safety Minister Peter Malinauskas said it is a team effort in delivering the safety message to rural communities.

“Less than one third of the state’s population lives outside of Adelaide, yet over 60% of road fatalities and 50% of serious injuries occur in regional South Australia with almost 70% of these crashes involving regional residents,” he said.

MAC Acting General Manager, Road Safety, Matt Hanton said the MAC and SACFL were working together to improve the behaviours of players and their communities to reduce the number of casualty crashes on rural roads.

“Young road users aged 16 to 24 in rural South Australia are two and half times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than those who live in the metropolitan area,” he said. 

SACFL General Manager Matt Duldig said they were very proud of the partnership with MAC.

“It makes perfect sense to use football as a vehicle to deliver such an important message to young men and women in country South Australia,” he said.

“Ultimately we want all players and volunteers making the right decisions on and off the field in the interest of saving lives in rural communities.”

Every SACFL club has also named a MAC Road Safety Ambassador to help engage with players, supporters and the wider community to encourage safe road behaviours.

The partnership will also allow SAPOL to have direct access to the local clubs to deliver 60 road safety education sessions across the state.