Published October 2025
As thousands of schoolchildren prepare to return to school tomorrow, motorists will face total confusion with the impending commencement of the State Government’s 40km/h, time-based speed limits on arterial roads. Since announcing these changes, there have been no public awareness campaigns to properly educate motorists on which roads, near which schools, have had the speed limits changed – prompting the Opposition to call for better communication, in addition to fast-tracking the rollout of the road safety improvements at all 150 schools identified in a recent review into school crossings. Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia, labelled the current situation as a “potential recipe for disaster”. “Since these changes were announced, there has been no public awareness campaign from the Government to help educate motorists of the new rules – a potential recipe for disaster,” Mr Tarzia said. “How can we expect South Australians motorists to be aware of the new rules when there’s been no real effort to educate the public on these changes?” “Without proper education and awareness, drivers won’t know what’s changed which puts our children at risk.” Shadow Minister for Education, Heidi Girolamo, said: “The Government needs to explain why only 150 schools across the entire state have been selected to have these new speed limit laws - and why it will take until the end of next year before all of them have the new lights and signage installed. “It’s also being rolled out in a haphazard way leaving drivers to ponder whether they have to drive at 60km/h, 40km/h or 25km/h depending on what school they’re driving past and what time of the day is it.” “These new laws - due to start at only three schools next month – are selective, inconsistent and confusing.” Shadow Minister for Road Safety and Member for Bragg, Jack Batty, questioned why the initiative was only being rolled out in three schools this year – with the remaining locations expected to have the new speed limits in place by the end of 2026. “You can’t put a price on a child’s life. Kids deserve to be able to get to school safely – whatever school they go to,” Mr Batty said. “If the Government has identified 150 schools where this measure would improve road safety, why are we starting with just three of them? “It took two children being involved in a horrible accident and another two years before the Government finally rolled out its safety improvements at Marryatville High School. “We don’t want to wait for the next tragedy before we see action at other schools. “There isn’t a single school on Portrush Road earmarked for safety upgrades – despite the crossing near Linden Park Primary and Glenunga International High School being identified as the most dangerous in the state. “The Government must come clean about which 150 schools it has identified as needing school crossing upgrades – and then get on with the job.” Media Contact: Sean Whittington 0403 995 730 |
