SA motorists will have to leave at least one metre when overtaking a cyclist under plans for new legislation, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

The proposal was put forward by a citizen's jury appointed by the SA Government last year aimed at improving the relationship between cyclists and drivers.

The jury recommended that current legislation be changed to define the overtaking space between a vehicle and a cyclist as a minimum of one metre, and that all overtaking be done only when it was safe to do so.

Premier Jay Weatherill said legislation would be developed to specify how much room was required when overtaking a person riding a bike.

"The current law is a 'safe distance' which is equally difficult to police," he said.

"It's really sending a message for motorists and for cyclists to respect one another, to keep a safe distance.

"You really do need a metre to be safe and it's a powerful cultural message that we're sending about staying safe on our roads."

New legislation would also be introduced to allow people of all ages to ride bicycles on the footpath.

Under current laws, adults are only allowed to ride on footpaths if accompanying children under the age of 12.

The change to allow cycling on footpaths when there was no safer alternative would bring South Australia into line with Queensland, Tasmania, ACT and NT.

RAA says one-metre rule will be hard to police

Mark Borlace is the mobility and automotive policy senior manager with the RAA.

He told 891 ABC Adelaide while the motoring association did not support the one-metre recommendation from the jury, if the legislation went ahead they would work with the Government to see it succeed.

"The reason we didn't support it was because some people can't judge what one metre is - it's going to be difficult for police to interpret one metre - and it's going to definitely need an education campaign to make sure people understand it," he said.

"What the jury has recommended is that this law - one metre - also comes with an allowance for vehicles to cross double lines when it's safe to do so.

"Previously you would have been locked between a line you couldn't cross and a bike you couldn't get past.

"It's going to take a lot of pragmatic policing to make this work."

Chief executive officer of Bike SA Christian Haage said their primary concern with the one-metre rule was its enforcability and its ability to actually create safer roads.

He said there was a trial underway in Queensland and Bike SA would prefer to wait for the trial results before considering a similar move in South Australia.

However Tracey Gaudrey, the chief executive officer of the Amy Gillett Foundation, told 891 ABC Adelaide they had been pushing for one-metre legislation in South Australia for more than two years.

"The law as it stands in South Australia simply requires drivers to leave sufficient distance when overtaking bicycle riders who are very vulnerable, and sufficient is a very difficult term to define and very subjective in the mind of the driver from time to time," Ms Gaudrey said.

She said the trial of the one-metre rule in Queensland had so far been successful.

"Bike riders are noticing a difference and the temperature is lower, because people now understand the vulnerability and they understand what they need to do."

The citizen's jury also recommended formal cycling education be introduced to schools, have called for improved cycling infrastructure as well as bike cages to be installed at all major train and bus stations to encourage more people to cycle and use public transport.