Truck driver appears over fatal SA crash

A truck driver, charged over a fatal crash in Adelaide, has appeared in court for the first time, almost 18 months after two people lost their lives.

Darren Hicks, 31, came before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

He has been placed on bail and will return to court on March 9.

In August, 2014, Jacqueline Byrne, 41, and Thomas Speiss, 56, were killed when a truck loaded with sewage ploughed into three cars stopped at traffic lights at the base of Adelaide's South-Eastern Freeway.

The circumstances of the crash prompted an immediate inquest which heard the truck was travelling at more than 150km/h before it hit the cars and overturned.

Recommendations from the inquest prompted the state government to cut speed limits on the freeway for the descent into Adelaide, with trucks restricted to 60km/h and cars 90km/h.