Albany Highway in Cannington and Nicholson Road in Canning Vale have again featured on a major insurer’s worst collision list.
Last week SGIO unveiled its top five merging collision locations in WA and Albany Highway and Nicholson Road came in at number one and two respectively.
In March last year, Albany Highway topped AAMI’s worst road for crashes list while Nicholson Road came in fourth.
Research by SGIO showed 54 per cent of Australian drivers admitted to having had trouble merging and 83 per cent claimed to have experienced another driver’s poor merging technique.
SGIO head of research Robert McDonald said merging was a major headache for West Australian drivers.
“Based on our claims data most merging collisions we see are where drivers have tried to merge with traffic while travelling too slowly or have completely stopped in the merging lane,” he said.
“This not only disrupts the flow of traffic but can result in cars being rear-ended.
“Road rules for merging are quite straightforward – when two lines of traffic become one and there are no marked lines a driver must give way to any vehicle that is ahead of their own.
“If a vehicle wants to move from one marked lane of traffic into another, they must give way to the lane of traffic they are moving into.”
A City of Canning spokesman said Albany Highway was under the management of Main Roads while the cities of Gosnells and Canning had joint responsibilities over Nicholson Road.
He urged drivers to be aware on the roads.
“The merging crashes along Albany Highway and Nicholson Road are likely to relate to congestion when motorists change lanes,” he said.
“Vehicles that enter these roads are entering at low travel speeds from side streets.
“In relation to Nicholson Road, which is partially a City of Canning road, the city considers this road is designed to standard.
“Motorists must ensure that there are adequate gaps in the traffic when they enter the road from the side street or change traffic lanes.”
The spokesman said the City of Canning regularly reviewed crash data to identify potentially hazardous locations.
