The top 35 intersections for crashes causing death or injury in Adelaide
We can probably all guess the worst intersection in Adelaide, right? See the list of the worst 35 intersections for crashes that caused injury or death – there might be one on your commute.
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Adelaide’s most dangerous intersections can now be named and shamed.
From 2015 to 2019, 35 serious accident hot spots have been identified as the worst for “casualty crashes” – with two drawing for 19th and 23rd place and four drawing for 30th on the list.
Top of the shame file is the site where a second roundabout was added in 2013 to fix the notorious accident spot – the dual Britannia Roundabouts.
The Marion and Sturt roads intersection, ranked second worst, recorded 39 casualty crashes between 2015 and 2019.
The latest RAA data shows 52 crashes over five years where people suffered serious or minor injuries at the notorious double roundabouts on the eastern side of the City Ring Route.
The majority, 46, occurred at the larger and older of the two roundabouts.
The roundabouts recorded 13 more accidents than the next closest rival, Marion Rd and Sturt Rd at Bedford Park.
The “casualty crashes” are not simple fender benders, although many are caused by a vehicle braking suddenly and causing rear-end collisions.
These are accidents since 2015 in which someone suffers a serious or minor injury or death.
Of the ten worst intersections for casualty crashes in this period, seven were in the northern suburbs, the figures show.
The most common type of crash at these ten worst intersections were rear-end collisions (40 per cent), followed by right angle (28 per cent), and right turn (26 per cent).
The intersection of Marion Rd and Cross Rd is the third intersection in the top ten which is not in the northern suburbs.
RAA Insurance Claims Manager Hayley Cain said traffic volumes and the complexity of intersections contributed to the number of casualty crashes.
“We are urging motorists to be vigilant whenever they are behind the wheel,’’ she said.
“Traffic can stop abruptly and result in rear end collisions, so RAA is reminding drivers to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them to avoid becoming a crash victim.’’
A second Britannia Roundabout has failed to solve the problem, where motorists can wait for 12 minutes before getting through.
The notorious site is so bad that peak hour buses must demand right of way and push into traffic, the only location in Adelaide where this happens.
The Transport Department is constantly making the most dangerous intersections safer, most recently by removing left turn slip lanes, which have fallen out of favour nationally because they cause accidents with merging traffic moving from right to left of the turning driver.
As a result of improvement works only four intersection from the worst between 2011 and 2015, remain in the top ten.
These are Regency Rd/Main North Rd, Main North Rd/Philip Hwy, Hampstead Rd/Grand Junction Rd and Main North Rd/McIntyre Rd.