CANBERRA Avenue in Fyshwick has knocked Northbourne Avenue in Canberra off its perch as the worst crash hotspot in Canberra, according to new data revealed in AAMI’s Crash Index.

Canberra Avenue in Fyshwick has moved up from third place last year to claim the number one spot, while Gundaroo Drive Gungahlin is the second most dangerous stretch of road. Both locations have consistently appeared in the top 5 hotspot list for the past three years.

Analysis of almost 240,000 accident insurance claims across the nation in 2014 show the top five crash hotspots in Canberra were:

“Each of the hotspots in Canberra that AAMI has identified are major roads or large motorways with heavily congested traffic during peak times.” AAMI spokesperson Reuben Aitchison said.

“Canberra Avenue in Fyshwick has undergone extensive roadworks in the past year which may explain why it’s the number one hotspot. We hope to see an improvement in the number of accidents now an extra set of traffic lights has been installed at the intersection of Geelong Street and Canberra Avenue.

“Surrounding areas of Gundaroo Drive in Gungahlin and Federal Highway Canberra are heavily populated with wildlife which contributes significantly to accidents along these stretches of road.

“On Parkes Way in Canberra, a combination of roadworks and a recent increase in the speed limit has most likely caused a spike in accidents, while high speeds on both Highways area also likely to be contributing factors.

“On the Monaro Highway in Hume, weather conditions are also a huge factor, with fog, ice, rain and snow causing accidents to triple during the winter months.

“Our advice is simple – if you find yourself driving on one of these accident-prone stretches of road or anywhere in heavy traffic, leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front, concentrate on your driving, and expect the unexpected from other road users.

As part of the AAMI Crash Index, AAMI surveyed over 3,700 drivers from across the country, and discovered that almost three quarters (74%) of those who had had experienced a crash in the past five years acknowledged their most recent collision was avoidable.

Almost a third (29%) say distraction or loss of concentration played a part, while a quarter (24%) admit carelessness was a contributing factor to their accident.

“Driver distraction is not a new problem, and given the increase in technology distraction we have seen in our research, it is concerning, but perhaps not surprising that the proportion of accidents caused by distractions in the car has risen from 7% to 11% in the past year.”

“On the other hand we’ve seen fewer drivers blaming other drivers for their accidents, dropping from 46% to 40% in the past year, and a steady increase over the past three years in drivers admitting their accident was avoidable. This tells us that drivers are starting to accept more responsibility for their driving behaviours and mistakes instead of finger pointing.”