Adelaide River takes out Darwin’s top car crash hot spot
A key Northern Territory highway is most likely to end in driver misery, fresh insurance data shows. There’s also been a surprising finding about male road-users.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
One Northern Territory thoroughfare is most likely to end in driver misery, new data reveals.
AAMI’s Crash index reveals Stuart Highway in Adelaide River is Darwin’s biggest car crash hot spot.
Stuart Highway took four of the top five crash hot spots in Darwin, the data shows.
The Index also found men aged 35 to 49 years old were the most likely group to be involved in an accident along Adelaide River’s stretch of the highway.
Fridays were the most common day of the week for accidents and evenings were the most common time.
Hitting an animal was the most common cause of an accident in this location.
The highway’s stretch in Alice Springs was the second-worst car crash hot spot followed by Katherine, Berrimah, Pine Creek and Smith St, Bagot Rd and Trower Rd in Darwin.
About 45 people have been killed on NT roads this year.
Collisions with stationary objects were the leading type of crash across the Territory, with one in five accidents occurring this way.
AAMI spokeswoman Anna Cartwright said the result was unsurprising given the constant flow of traffic along the Stuart Highway in Adelaide River.
Ms Cartwright said Territorians needed to concentrate more on what’s happening in front and around them and less on multi-tasking when driving.
“Regardless of the day or time, driving through one of the identified hot spots, dropping your kids off at school or simply popping out to the local shops, every time you get behind the wheel we urge drivers throughout the NT to maintain focus on the task at hand, follow the speed limit and abide by all road rules,” she said.
“All it takes is a split second of not having your eyes on the road for you to miss one stop or give way sign or for you to divert your attention to something other than the road ahead, for things to go wrong.”
Speed limits have been reinstalled on the highway as part of the Northern Territory Government’s road safety action plan.
Audible tactile edge lines have also been installed along the Stuart Highway between Darwin and Katherine.
The NT’s road fatality rate is more than three times the national average.
On average, 48 people are killed on Territory roads each year and a further 540 are seriously injured.
Fire fears as heritage-listed mural sits forgotten after $3m acquisition
A fire danger period being declared hasn’t spurred the government into action over a site it acquired for more than $3 million – leading to fears an important piece of NT heritage could be reduced to ash.
Ankle monitors no deterrent for young crims as cafe boss hit twice
Two hospitality venues in Palmerston have been ransacked to the tune of about $20,000, with incredible CCTV stills illustrating at least one devil-may-care youth offender wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet.