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Insurer RACQ has urged south-east Queensland residents to brush up their merging skills as new insurance claims data revealed that the region's drivers were some of the worst in state when it comes to merging.
Southeast Queensland suburbs made up eight of the top 10 worst locations in the state for merging related crashes, based on the insurer's analysis of more than 6,000 claims caused by poor merging over the past three years.
The claims data, covering Jan. 1, 2015 to April 30, 2018, revealed Brisbane City, Fortitude Valley, and Toowoomba as the top three locations for crashes caused by poor merging, followed by Southport, Mount Gravatt, Woolloongabba, Eight Mile Plains, Milton, Indooroopilly, and Rockhampton.
“It’s concerning to see how many crashes occur each year due to preventable mistakes like incorrect merging,” said Kirsty Clinton, RACQ spokesperson. “We’re calling on all Queensland motorists to take five minutes to brush up on the rules around merging so we can hopefully prevent similar crashes from occurring in the future.”
Clinton said drivers must heed to two rules when merging: “On roads where the lanes are marked, you must give way to any traffic already in the lane you wish to move into. However, when there are no road markings, for example two lanes suddenly become one, you must give way to any vehicles in front of you.”
