Australia's most dangerous roads revealed

Australian insurance provider AAMI has released a report on crash statistics over the past decade, revealing the country’s most dangerous crash hotspots.

The Decade of Driving Report forms part of the annual Crash Index and is compiled by analysing more than 4.3 million motor claims across Australia from 2014 to 2023. It’s intended to provide insights into road accidents and driving behaviours and how they’ve changed.

AAMI motor claims manager, Leah James, says while there have been changes and improvements to car technology and vehicles in general, driving attitudes and behaviours haven’t changed in the same way.

“What we hope to achieve with our AAMI Decade of Driving Report, is to bring awareness to where, when and how accidents occur, so that Aussie drivers can be better informed and educated on how drive more safely,” she said.

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According to the report, the country’s worst crash hotspot is Plenty Road in Bundoora, a suburb in Melbourne’s north-east. Like most of the other hotspots in Australia, Plenty Road is a busy major thoroughfare, and has held the top spot in Victoria for more than five years.

Here’s a breakdown of the worst crash hotspot in every state and territory:

In all states, except for Tasmania, the top crash hotspot has been the same for more than five of the past 10 years.

Ms James says that on Plenty Road, AAMI’s Crash Index from 2022 helped to inform a speed reduction trial that went on to become a permanent change that same year.

Based on motor claims from 2019 to 2023, the speed reduction contributed to a 26 per cent decrease in accidents on that road.

The report also reveals some other key crash data, including the most dangerous times for crashes.

Afternoons between 1pm and 4.30pm remain the most dangerous time of day for incidents, accounting for 28 per cent of motor claims.

Fridays are when drivers are most likely to have a crash, while women were also found to be much less likely to cause an accident than men, with a 46 to 54 per cent split.

The most common type of collisions nationwide over the past 10 years were nose-to-tail crashes (26 per cent).

Below is a breakdown of the top 10 worst crash hotspots in each state and territory. The infographics have been sourced from AAMI’s report, and you can click on any of them for a better view.

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