Young woman is killed and another is fighting for her life after high-speed kamikaze car crash on the wrong side of a dual carriageway
A 29-year-old woman from Wallaroo, South Australia, died after her Suzuki SUV was filmed travelling at high speed on the wrong side of the Sturt Highway near Daveyston in the Barossa Valley before colliding head-on with a Toyota hatchback. The crash, which happened at around 8.25am on Tuesday, was captured on video by a horrified motorist who tried to warn oncoming traffic, and has drawn a plea from police for the public not to share the distressing footage online.
Police said the Suzuki driver died at the scene, while the 32-year-old woman driving the Toyota, from Kilkenny, was treated at the scene and airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Witnesses reported the SUV had been driving on the wrong side of the road for several minutes before impact, with one motorist describing a near-miss further along the highway. The Sturt Highway was closed for most of the day as Major Crash Investigators examined the scene, and the deceased woman's identity remains unknown even to residents of her small hometown. Her death is the 77th road fatality in South Australia in 2026, and investigations continue, with police appealing for witnesses or dashcam footage.
- Woman, 29, dies in wrong-way head-on crash on SA highway
- Second driver, 32, airlifted to hospital in critical condition
- Deceased woman's identity remains unknown; 77th SA road death in 2026
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Rural highway fatal crashes involving a vehicle travelling on the wrong side of the road are a recurring cause for concern in Australia, and this case falls into that category. The incident happened on the Sturt Highway, a major route through South Australia's Barossa Valley wine region, which connects Adelaide to the state's north-east and carries a mix of local, tourist and freight traffic. Head-on collisions on such roads are typically among the deadliest types of crash because of the combined closing speed of both vehicles.
South Australia Police and Major Crash Investigators are the agencies responsible for examining the scene and determining what caused the vehicle to be travelling on the wrong side of the road. Their inquiries typically look at factors such as driver health, fatigue, mechanical failure or other causes, though no explanation has yet been confirmed. The force also routinely appeals to the public for dashcam footage and witness accounts after serious crashes, which helps build a picture of events leading up to the collision.
The crash adds to South Australia's road toll for the year, a running count that authorities and road safety campaigners use to track progress against efforts to reduce deaths on the state's roads. Such tolls are commonly cited in local reporting to give context to the scale and frequency of fatal collisions across the state.