Angaston A Grade footballer Alex Brackstone has won the 2017 Motor Accident Commission (MAC) Road Safety Round Medal in the BLG League.

The medal is awarded to the player whose impact, based on the decisions they make, positively affects the match outcome and not necessarily, the player judged to be the best on ground.

Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo who presented the award after the game at the Gawler Central/Angaston match, said the aim of the medal is to reinforce the message that the decisions we make can have a major impact, whether in a local footy game on the roads we drive.

The coaches of both teams, which Angaston went on to win by 40 points, judged Mr Brackestone’s performance jointly.

Mr Piccolo said MAC Road Safety Round seeks to drive home the importance of road safety amongst country football clubs throughout the state.

“This year’s round, an initiative of the Motor Accident Commission (MAC) in partnership with SANFL Community Football, comes at a crucial time following the death of two young country footballers on our roads in the past week,” Mr Piccolo said.

“MAC’s involvement with SANFL Community Football, as the major partner, provides an opportunity to promote road safety in regional South Australia, where last year 50 people died and a further 249 were seriously injured in road crashes.”

As part of the round, players will wear black armbands in memory of those affected by road trauma and a medal will be awarded to one player from each A-Grade match whose impact, based on the decisions they made, positively affected the match outcome.

Road Safety Minister Peter Malinauskas said this partnership is incredibly important in helping promote road safety to regional communities and in particular, young men.

“Less than one third of the state’s population lives outside of Adelaide, yet on average 60% of road fatalities and 50% of serious injuries occur in regional South Australia,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“With almost 70 percent of these crashes involving regional residents, it shows the heighted risk associated with country driving.”

“Partnerships and initiatives such as this go a long way to help reduce death and injuries on our roads as we aim for our goal of towards zero together.”

MAC Road Safety Engagement Manager Matt Hanton said the MAC Road Safety Round draws awareness to road safety issues and provide the opportunity for those clubs who have been impacted by road trauma to reflect and remember.

"As we have seen, as recently as last weekend, it is so important to continually re-inforce road safety messages to young, regional men who are unfortunately over represented in death and injuries on our roads,” Mr Hanton said.

Mr Piccolo said just as making the right decision on the field is important to the success of a team, making the right decisions on the road is important to staying alive.

“It can be simple things that can save lives, like sticking to the speed limit, wearing seatbelts, and making sure you don’t drive tired or while under the influence of drugs and alcohol,” Mr Piccolo said.