Wheels in motion for safer beaches, lower speed limits

Saturday, 4 February 2023

South Australians now have the opportunity to have their say on proposed options to lower speed limits on the state’s beaches, improving safety for all beach goers.

Currently, beaches in South Australia are considered ‘road related areas’ under the Road Traffic Act 1961 and the Australian Road Rules. This means that where there is no signed speed limit, the default speed limit for a non built-up area of 100km/h applies.

In the period 2017-2021, there were 29 reported crashes on beaches resulting in the loss of one life, 15 serious injuries and 13 minor injuries.

Speed was reported as a contributing factor in approximately 50 per cent of these crashes.

As part of a State Government review to improve beach safety, a yourSAy survey has been launched and is seeking feedback about four options to better manage speed limits on beaches and asks South Australians to provide feedback on the below:

• Option 1: A default beach speed limit of 40km/h
• Option 2: A default beach speed limit of 25km/h
• Option 3: A default beach speed limit of 40km/h and 25km/h when passing or within 100 metres of a pedestrian
• Option 4: No change to the default speed limits.

Community members are invited to provide their feedback on the above options, outlined within a Speed Limits on Beaches discussion paper, until consultation closes on Friday, 17 March.

To submit feedback, please visit https://yoursay.sa.gov.au/speed-limits-on-beaches.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport has previously approved a speed limit of 10 km/h for Moana, Aldinga and Sellicks beaches and recently approved a 40km/h speed limit for Goolwa Beach, in the interest of road safety.