The horror start to the year on South Australia's roads has continued south of Adelaide, where a 74-year-old woman was killed this afternoon.
The woman was driving a Nissan SUV, which crashed into a tree on Nine Mile Road just outside Strathalbyn.
Police and paramedics were called to the scene just before 2pm.
"The single occupant of the Nissan SUV, a 74-year-old local woman, sadly died at the scene," police said.
Nine Mile Road has been closed as Major Crash investigators examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The woman is the 37th person killed on South Australia's roads in 2023, compared to 16 at the same time last year.
Her death came two days after the previous fatal crash — a two-car collision which claimed the life of a 65-year-old Victorian man at Monbulla in SA's south-east on Tuesday morning.
Police issued another public appeal for road safety on Wednesday morning after a truck hit two schoolchildren at a pedestrian crossing in Adelaide's eastern suburbs.
The girl and boy — both aged 16, and both students at Marryatville High — were taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, with the boy in a critical condition.
A third student was also involved in the incident and was yesterday recovering at home.
"My thoughts at the moment really are with those families of the two students who remain in hospital, one of them in a critical condition," Education Minister Blair Boyer said today.
"I just have my fingers crossed that we can get those two students out of hospital and safely home. I think the third student involved is actually back at school today, which is remarkable."
The driver of the truck has been charged with two counts of causing injury by dangerous driving and was yesterday bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in June.
Mr Boyer said students and staff have been receiving support, and the government would consider any recommended changes to the crossing.
"I'm open to anything to make it safer — I had someone call me this morning when they were listening on the radio to say what about the idea of the rumble strips that we have on highways?" Mr Boyer said.
"If cars were about to reach an intersection … [they would] go across the rumble strips and know they were coming towards a set of red lights, so people are already sharing ideas and we'll take all those into account."
