There are two differing view points that are always a source of disagreement. One is that it is the fault of drivers for getting in to accidents, and the way to make roads less dangerous is to fix drivers to reduce accidents. The other is that accidents are not avoidable, so speed limits, vehicle safetry, and road safety features need to be improved so that people can survive accidents.
If you all will note, the statistic used is “deaths per mile” and not “accidents per mile”. The reason this is significant is that most of the most dangerous roads are located in areas with a lot of retirees. Many of these retirees have reached an age where even a very minor accident can be fatal.
There is a highway I used to take to work whose speed limit suddenly dropped from 65 to 55 because there was a fatality on that section of the highway. It was not a hazardous highway, 4 lane divided with median, but NOT limited access.
A 92 year old woman entered the highway making a left turn but did not cross the median, instead turning into the left oncoming lane. The driver in that lane came to a complete stop, but she still hit him head on at about 15 mph, and died from her injuries. Because of the low speed, the airbags did not go off and she hit her head on the steering wheel.
I think they should add the Louisville bridge to the list based on the semi dangling over the
Side.
I-270 tends to be worse than I-95. My sister used to live in Germantown, between Gaithersburg and Frederick. She worked at Georgetown University Hospital. Normally that would be a 45 minute drive but on Friday it was at least 2 hours unless you left after 9 pm. Her solution was to stay in DC and dine with friends until about 10 pm then head home. That was 30 years ago and it’s worse now.
I used to work just outside the DC beltway near the intersection with the Baltimore Washington Parkway. It took me about a half hour to drive in from west of Baltimore in the morning, arriving at 6am. I’d leave at 2:30pm and it good at least 45 minutes to drive home. I never used I-95 because the traffic would have meant more than an hour transit. 5 lanes of parking, all the way to Baltimore. The thing I miss least about work is the lousy commute. During the Covid-19 shutdown I was thrilled to work from home. That kept me from retiring for another couple of years.
Also, for what it’s worth…I noticed the data above is from 2011-2015. Here is a list of fatalities per 100 miles in 2019 from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System according to this article. You will notice that the only highway still on the 2019 list is I-95. Also, the top 5 highways on the 2019 list all have a higher fatality rate than the top highway (I-4 @ 1.25 deaths per mile) had based on 2011-2015 data.
Something isn’t right Rainflurry.
Your list shows I-95 as having 14.88 deaths per 100 miles, which is 0.1488 deaths per mile. The original post says that I-95 has 0.73 deaths per mile.
Which is why I posted it. If we’re going to have a discussion about the deadliest highways in the US, we should probably have some consensus as to which highways actually are the deadliest.
The original post presented 2015 data and @Rainflurry’s post showed 2019 data. Any individual year will be skewed somewhat by multi car accidents and weather events specific to the area. Multi year data could be averaged and if there is enough data a standard error could be added to assess how valid the rankings are.
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Remember a billboard in WI, not recalling the company, “Faster than a car with Illinois plates ;)”
Coming back from the clinic yesterday on i35 I noticed a bunch of flowers on the side of the road, in tribute to someone killed on the road. I don’t recall the death but in my million miles on that road, not many safer. Unless a truckload of bees plows into a stopped car. That road will probably make the list next time.
Here’s the deal though, you have to watch your back too and be prepared to take evasive action when that car or truck is not paying attention. One morning a guy was asleep and woke up feet away from me. He would not have hit me though because I was ready to get out of the way. If you are the last car stopped in a string of cars be super aware. Death require a hittee
and a hitter.
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I always drive like everyone is out to kill me. I’ve been put on the shoulder of an interstate more than once by inattentive truckers. (And yes, I understand about their mirrors and lines of sight and all of that). And avoided many, many accidents by seriously paranoid defensive driving.
the most dangerous road in the U.S. is what ever road the “gift” is on.
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+1
However, it seems like a whole lot of people never (or rarely) look in their rearview mirror. I sometimes see cars with that mirror “aimed” so that the driver can check his/her hair or… whatever… and as a result it would be virtually impossible to see behind the car.
A few months ago, I was driving for an extended period of time on a 2 lane road behind a woman in a VW Golf, and her rear wiper was operating… constantly. There had been no rain or any other type of precipitation for close to one week, so that woman clearly never looks in her mirror (and might also have been deaf).
In Driver Ed, we were taught to keep our eyes moving in order to check all of the mirrors on a regular basis, in the interests of safety. But, I don’t think that everyone does this.
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I have driven on many of these roads and I don’t believe the statistic (deaths per lane mile) is a good indicator of danger. These may be the most dangerous multi-lane highways, but they aren’t that bad compared to most roads… which are not interstate, or even close to interstate quality…
Interstates can seem statistically dangerous when defined by “deaths and/or injuries per lane mile”, but they are not close to the most dangerous (as defined as number of deaths per vehicle / passenger traveled miles.
The most crowded high traffic interstates seem more dangerous than empty two laners… but when you compare accidents and deaths per vehicle and/or passenger, undivided highways are more dangerous… There are more accidents on the roads on this list simply because there is much more traffic.
Some roads look statistically more dangerous than they really are (interstates)… but the average vehicle is safer on an interstate, even the worst interstate.
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Isn’t 95 the speed limit on I-95? How come whenever I drive this at 90 mph I get tailgated? (From especially Richmond VA to Floraduh)
I don’t know if its statistically the most dangerous… but the Million Dollar Highway out of Silverton Colorado is the scariest road I’ve ever been on. No guardrails, 500 foot drop on right (when driving south to Silverton) and 500 to 2000 foot walls on right (heading north out of Silverton). The dangerous part isn’t the drop off but the wall. Because it randomly rains water, rocks, snow and trees onto vehicles in both directions. Especially frightening: the “do not stop because of falling objects” signs. The signs and the rocks already in the road.
Do any of you kids remember the old two lane highways with the raised gutter on the side. When the nylon tires would hit them, the car would be jerked back again. I don’t know if they were us highways or also state but I remember them heading west from Minnesota. They were dangerous.
Grew up in NY. They drive like little old ladies compared to MAholes. No contest.
Many years ago a bridge on I90 in NY went out west of Albany. Took 2 years to rebuilt it. We’d travel back to NY to visit family and had to go through their detour. There was a spot where 2 lanes went into 1, and every time after the merge there was a line of cars trying to cut in. And every single one were MA plates.
I’m calling selective observation colored by prejudice. When I come across a plate screwing up traffic it’s either NJ, FL , or NC plates.
You grew up too far north in NY, then, I’d say. Hit the sub and sub-sub-urbs of NYC. The old ladies there are far and few between because they can’t handle it.
Around here it’s Iowa. Always in the left lane. I’ve even asked Iowa relatives if they teach that in drivers Ed. No they’re just looking for slow moving tractors.