The Western Bay of Plenty's 10 worst black spots have been responsible for close to 300 crashes in the past five years.
New figures from the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) reveal a total of 280 crashes at some of the region's busiest junctions, with Cameron Rd and 11th Ave the worst offender.
From 2005 to 2009, there were 41 crashes at the intersection. In 2005 there were 13 crashes and five in 2009, the most recent figures available.
Roading officials intend to start making changes to the intersection in a fortnight to make it safer.
The figures also come as Transport Minister Steven Joyce yesterday announced that new give way rules would be introduced next year.
Carpet Court branch manager Justin King told the Bay of Plenty Times he noticed a difference in the number of crashes at the Cameron Rd-11th Ave intersection since a turning lane was introduced outside his 11th Ave shop earlier this year.
"Prior to that there were some people who would try to go right where they weren't supposed to, a lot of times," Mr King said.
"There has definitely been a decline in the number of accidents out there."
Bill Fedcole, of Avenue Antiques and Collectibles, also located at the intersection, said it was busy with but believed most crashes happened overnight. "I have been here 10 years and I've seen the debris of a couple of prangs. I appreciate that it's probably one of the worst but I don't think anyone has been killed here," Mr Fedcole said.
Further south, Cameron Rd and 23rd Ave recorded 36 crashes, making it the second-worst black spot for the region. State Highway 2 (15th Ave) and Fraser St came in third with 31 crashes while SH2 and Moffat Rd at Bethlehem had 29.
Five of the worst black spots are controlled by traffic lights. Four others involved roundabouts. The intersection of Cameron Rd and 21st Ave has a turning bay.
Tauranga City Council transportation operations manager Martin Parkes said the undesirable ranking of 11th Ave and Cameron Rd for crashes came as no surprise.
"It has always been a big one and it has actually been on our list for some time as a poor intersection. But the good news is we have been developing a project and we are about to start work out there in the next two weeks," he said. The "improvement scheme" project is designed to reduce the number of crashes at the intersection and is still to be finalised.
While the NZTA figures involved some council roads and state highways in urban and rural areas, they did not involve central business district streets, on which Tauranga City Council had recently completed a report.
Mr Parkes said the report found there had been 50 crashes, mostly minor, in the Spring St, Willow St, McLean St, and Hamilton St areas from 2005-2009. Mr Parkes said most of these crashes were caused by driver inattention, failing to stop at stop signs or failing to give way at give way signs.
"We have a number of incidents around the city where there are a number of large crashes. They are mainly damage only, no injury, but they are still crashes," he said.
Action on this, such as bringing forward the stop or give way lanes more and creating more visibility for drivers at the CBD intersections, was expected within the next financial year.
NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said working out why the top 10 worst intersections were so bad would require a detailed analysis of all contributing factors of each crash, including drink driving and excessive speed.
It was hoped the new give-way rules would reduce some types of intersection crashes.
The changes, which will take effect next March, were meant to reduce confusion by removing some of the demands which current rules placed on drivers at intersections.
The current rule was that left-turning traffic had to give way to oncoming right-turning traffic. This will change so that right-turning traffic gave way. Changes were also planned for those making right-hand turns at uncontrolled T-intersections.