The Department for Transport and Infrastructure (DTI) is considering a lower default speed limit to improve safety for all beach users.

Under current road traffic legislation, beaches in South Australia are considered a road-related area, the default speed for which is 100km/h.

DTI released a discussion paper earlier this year proposing four options for speed limits on our beaches.

The options were:

• a default beach speed limit of 40km/h
• a default beach speed limit of 25km/h
• a default beach speed limit of 40km/h, and 25km/h when passing or within 100m of a pedestrian
• no change to current default speed limit.

If introduced, a default beach speed limit would apply to all South Australian beaches accessible by vehicles, unless otherwise signposted.

Between 2017 and 2021, there were 29 reported crashes on our beaches. This resulted in the loss of one life, 15 serious injuries and 13 minor injuries.

In approximately half of these crashes, speed was a contributing factor.

Some beaches in the state already have signposted speed limits, including Moana and Aldinga which have a 10km/h limit, and Goolwa Beach which has a 40km/h limit.

South Australians were invited to provide feedback on the four options, with the responses currently under review.

The results will be used to inform any changes to beach speed limits which would likely occur in the second half of 2023.

For more information, visit Department for Infrastructure and Transport.