Share road safety responsibility: NHVR plea after fatal rural heavy vehicle crash data stagnates in South Australia

The call comes during Rural Road Safety month, as the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) shared data showing no improvement in the number of fatal heavy vehicle crashes or the resulting loss of life on rural roads in South Australia.

In FY25, four fatal heavy vehicles crashes occurred on South Australian rural roads resulting in four fatalities. Both these statistics have remained stagnant in FY26 with no improvement in the number of incidents or the lives lost as a result.

Nationally in FY26, 59 fatal heavy vehicles crashes occurred on rural roads resulting in 63 deaths, up from 52 crashes and 59 fatalities in FY25.    

NHVR Chief Operations Officer Paul Salvati said the data from the Australian Road Deaths Database showed a disappointing trend.

“Despite education efforts from the NHVR, road safety advocates and government agencies there has been no change in the number of fatal heavy vehicle crashes occurring in South Australia,” Mr Salvati said.

“Sadly, there has also been no reduction in the number of lives lost as a result of these incidents in the state.  

“Rural roads present unique risks – they are narrower, often far from emergency assistance and can present a relentless and tiring driving experience.

“Drivers on these roads have a very different experience than those in metro areas – simple things such as more active wildlife on the road and less physical separation between opposing traffic streams can be factors that contribute to crashes.

“Light vehicle drivers using these roads will share space with some of the largest heavy vehicles in the country – these vehicles need much longer distances to stop safely and have multiple blind spots which makes overtaking more dangerous.”

Rural Road Safety Month is an initiative of the Australian Road Safety Foundation and runs throughout August.

The percentage of fatal rural heavy vehicle crashes varies across jurisdictions regulated by the NHVR, but Tasmania had the worst record with all fatal heavy vehicle crashes in FY26 occurring in rural areas.

Queensland had the next highest rate at 43%, followed by South Australia and New South Wales at 40% and 36.5% respectively. Victoria has a significantly lower rate over the period of rural fatal heavy vehicle crashes at just 17.5%.*

Mr Salvati said that while South Australia had lower crash metrics than some other states, the numbers still represented road users who did not make it home safely to their loved ones.    

“It might seem that the number of fatal heavy vehicle crashes across a 12-month period is relatively low in South Australia in comparison to other states, but when it comes to road fatalities one death is too many,” Mr Salvati said.

“Australia’s road network is vast and much of it services regional, rural and remote parts of the country. All road users need to be vigilant on rural roads to reduce both the number of incidents and the resulting loss of life.”

Nationally, the FY26 data showed most fatal heavy vehicle crashes in rural areas occurred in 100-110km/h speed zones, which are more prevalent outside of major cities.

The NHVR runs ongoing safety campaigns to educate experienced and newer drivers on how to drive safely around trucks in all settings.

In FY26 financial year the NHVR ran more than 60 operations across its jurisdiction to educate and inform drivers operating in rural areas of their responsibilities under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

The regulator’s Safety and Compliance teams also work with agencies such as state police to run holistic road safety and compliance operations in the regions. 

You can find more information about the Australian Road Safety Foundation’s Rural Road Safety Month. 

*Note: The heavy vehicle fatal crashes and fatality data quoted was obtained from the Australian Road Deaths Database (ARDD). The ARDD uses the National Remoteness Areas 2021 categories to establish defined areas. Rural statistics were derived from the Outer Regional Australia, Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia areas. This data relates to HVNL states only.