RAC senior patrol officer Jason Kovacevich. A survey has found that dangerous road use is increasing.
Camera IconRAC senior patrol officer Jason Kovacevich. A survey has found that dangerous road use is increasing. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Worrying findings in road report

Bryce LuffFremantle Gazette

These are just a few things spotted by RAC's roadside assistance patrollers during their time helping some of WA's most vulnerable road users.

The findings were revealed by the RAC after a survey of its roadside patrollers to discover exactly what they encounter on the state's roads.

Last year RAC came to the aid of more than 400,000 West Australians.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

RAC general manager Mark Weller said the company's patrol team were uniquely placed to offer insight into issues faced on WA roads, given the amount of time using them.

The results make some interesting reading.

Unsurprisingly, 96 per cent of those surveyed said traffic congestion was on the rise.

More than 43 per cent of patrols said WA roads had declined in quality, and up to half say damaged tyres were the most frequent type of problem, a result linked to the amount of debris on our roads.

Twenty per cent experience a near miss each week, with the close calls attributed to motorists not slowing down near a traffic incident or impatient drivers using emergency stopping lanes to avoid congestion.

Close to all patrols said they had noticed an increase in unsafe driving behaviour, which include speeding, running red lights, road rage and tail gating.

People using mobile phones while behind the wheel was the most common of the unsafe habits spotted, with 95 per cent of patrols saying they had seen it.

Mr Weller said he was not surprised by the results.

"We had suspected that our patrols have seen and experienced a great number of things given they spend so much time driving around Perth," he said.

"The survey confirmed issues such as inattention, road rage and tailgating have become more of an issue recently. From a safety perspective it brought home that working at breakdowns has become more dangerous."