Roadworks add to black spots

Albany Highway in Cannington has been named Perth's worst stretch of road for accidents.

An analysis of 12,500 accident claims to insurer AAMI found most crash hotspots last year were in heavily congested areas of Perth with high volumes of traffic in peak periods.

Second was Wellington Street in the CBD, followed by Wanneroo Road at Wanneroo, Canning Highway, Applecross and Joondalup Drive, Joondalup.

"Many of these roads have had ongoing roadworks, which might explain why the top five locations are all new entries to the list this year," AAMI spokesman Reuben Aitchison said.

"Wellington Street and Joondalup Drive have had roadworks for some time and Wanneroo Road has converging streets and intersections with traffic lights that do not have turning arrows, causing a lot of drivers to become impatient and frustrated."

Mr Aitchison said roadworks were an unavoidable product of a growing city and it was up to motorists to be especially careful.

"Nose-to-tail accidents are the most frequent," he said. "This can mean a lack of attention from drivers, even for just a split second. And maybe we are not leaving enough room between cars.

"Being a safe driver means maintaining focus and staying calm behind the wheel. However, all too often when we find ourselves driving through roadworks or slow moving traffic, we become impatient, speed or weave in and out of traffic lanes.

"If we want to see fewer accidents, we need to change this behaviour."

The analysis also found that most accidents happened on Thursdays and Fridays.

As part of the research, AAMI surveyed about 3700 drivers across Australia and found that one in four had been involved in a car accident over the past five years.

Of these, nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said the accident was avoidable and nearly half blamed another driver for the accident.

Nearly one-quarter admitted being careless behind the wheel and nearly one-third said they had been distracted or lost concentration.