A young woman died when she smashed head-on into another car moments after she was seen driving at high speed on the wrong side of a South Australian highway.
Video captured a white Suzuki SUV driving into oncoming traffic on the Sturt Highway near Daveyston in the Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide, at 8.25am on Tuesday.
A man filming the footage from inside his vehicle on the opposite side of the dual-carriageway watched on in horror as he screamed: ‘Get off the road!’
He desperately tried to warn oncoming traffic with his horn before the Suzuki slammed head-on into a blue Toyota hatchback without apparently trying to brake.
Police confirmed the woman driving the Suzuki, a 29-year-old from Wallaroo, on the Yorke Peninsula, died at the scene.
The 32-year-old Kilkenny woman driving the Toyota miraculously survived and was treated at the scene before being airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Footage of the terrifying incident was posted online and broadcast by a local news outlet before they re-cut the video to remove the moment of impact.
The Daily Mail has edited the video to remove the deadly collision.
‘We ask the public to please think of the families and friends of those involved in the crash and refrain from sharing or disseminating the distressing video,’ said a SAPOL spokesperson.
Major Crash Investigators closed the Sturt Highway for most of the day as they probed the accident and cleared debris.
Witnesses revealed the Suzuki had been travelling on the wrong side of the road for several minutes before the fatal impact.
One motorist on the highway at the time of the crash told 7NEWS of her close call a short time earlier at Nuriootpa, 10km from where the crash happened.
Julia Dorrestyn said she was forced to swerve to avoid a collision and added: ‘I was in the right lane, they were in the right lane – just in the wrong direction.
‘I had a last-minute panic, I beeped the horn and then I had to hit the brakes and pull in behind a truck beside me to get out of the way.
‘[It was] terrifying, just confusion.’
Several other drivers attempted to help the victims before emergency services arrived.
The identity of the woman who died remains a mystery in her hometown of Wallaroo, a former copper-mining settlement turned seaside port and holiday village.
Locals in the small town, 160km northwest of Adelaide with a population of around 4000, said they do not know who she was.
‘This town is a hotbed of gossip, so it’s strange that no one knows who she is,’ said one shopkeeper.
Several other business owners told the Daily Mail on Wednesday no one seemed to know who she was or whether she had family in Wallaroo.
‘All we know is that she was 29 and apparently from Wallaroo,’ said a staffer at a local bakery.
The woman’s death is the 77th fatality on South Australian roads in 2026.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash are continuing.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam footage and has not yet spoken to police, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers online www.crimestopperssa.com.au or call 1800 333 000. Information can be provided anonymously.
Lifeline 131114. Beyondblue 1300 22 4636.
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