A pair of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie roads have been placed in the spotlight, featuring in the top ten regional crash hotspots according to the latest insurance data.
After combing through 394,000 motor insurance claims lodged across the country in 2025, Park Avenue, Kotara in New South Wales (NSW) ranked ninth and the Pacific Highway, Belmont, NSW ranked tenth in AAMI’s 2026 Crash Index.
With tight driveways, on-street parking, merging side streets as well as schools and childcare centres, Park Avenue is a congested regional roadway and has an unfortunate history of crashes and near misses.
Not to mention the traffic route is made busier through access to Westfield Kotara shopping centre and the Newcastle Inner City Bypass.
More than 1,700 vehicles per hour are tipped to travel through the busy intersection of Glebe Road and Park Avenue alone during peak weekday periods.
In 2025, the same year the data was collected, $3.3 million safety works were undertaken at the intersection, including traffic light installation, a new kerb and footpath and road resurfacing.
In NSW-specific figures, Park Avenue Kotara ranked fifth for the most claims.
About 15 minutes south of Kotara, the Pacific Highway in Belmont has been responsible for a high volume of insurance claims, landing its place at number ten in AAMI’s ranking.
Data collected by AAMI across the same period found that nose-to-tail crashes were the most common type of collision, followed by failure to give way and collision with a stationary object.
While national data shows the peak prang time is mornings from 9:30am–1pm, regional-specific data shows the most common time for a crash is 2pm–4:30pm.
As Regional Road Safety Month comes to an end, locals are reminded that regional and rural roads are riskier than drivers may think.
The Australian Road Safety Foundation found roughly two-thirds (27%) of drivers believe rural roads are safer than city roads. However, two-thirds of all fatal crashes in NSW occur on a country road, and 83% of those fatal crashes involve a country resident.
More news stories like this:
- Body found in Lambton after man reported missing
- Nine new treatment spaces coming to Hunter hospitals
- Man taken to Toronto Police Station after alleged $215,000 cannabis seizure
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here
