10 Most Dangerous Roads in America
Accidents happen anywhere. But if the numbers increase in a particular road, then it’s something that calls out for attention. These roads in the US have been known to give surprising rates due to common factors like drunk driving or just impatient driving in congested roads. However in the present, some of these roads were reconstructed that initially improved travel and lessened the mishaps recorded.
1. I-10 in Arizona
Interstate 10’s 150-mile stretch from Phoenix to the California border gets in the dangerous list for having a record of 85 deaths in a year. There’s an average of 700 deaths recorded in an average year for all roads in Arizona.
2. I-26 in South Carolina
Federal and state records show that this unusual short section of the South Carolina’s Interstate 26 had 325 deaths in 286 wrecks from 2000 to 2010, making it one of the deadliest roads in South Carolina. Charleston Post and Courier analyzed the crash data on some other sections and the actual death rate is twice the first record.
3. Highway 550 in Colorado
Driving through the 25-mile stretch of Highway 550 in southwestern Colorado starts to get scary when you go 11,000 feet above sea level, passing through the Red Mountain Pass in the San Juan Mountains. It gets scarier when you find out that this road doesn’t have guardrails at all. This highway lacks the guardrails to allow the continuous fall of snow and avalanche debris – and people aren’t exempted. So be careful!
4. Highway 2 in Montana
One of Montana’s most dangerous roads, Highway 2 gets the highest fatality rate. The reasons included long transportation times to rush crash victims to the hospital (an average of 80 minutes) and fast driving due to sparse traffic.
5. U.S. 431, Alabama
U.S. 431 was declared to be one of America’s most dangerous roads that you can even see a section of this 98-mile road dotted by white crosses from all the car crash victims’ families. Traffic density and limited visibility on the two-lane sections were told as the main causes of all deaths in this road. Construction was later done to widen the road into four-lanes and replace bridges.
6. Dalton Highway, Alaska
Though the fatality rate in James Dalton Highway has become lesser each year, it will always be known as the hazardous two-lane dirt road. This 414-mile road, which connects Fairbanks to the North Slope of Alaska, was first open for trucks only. When it was later opened for tourists, further measures were made to avoid accidents and breakdowns in this rough road. The highway is known to be dangerous due to the steep mountains, weak visibility, and the huge trucks that may throw large rocks from the gravel road surface.
7. California State Route 138
This road didn’t just get the labels “highway of death”, “death road”, “blood alley”, and “California deathway” for nothing. It averaged more than 10 deaths per year on its steep and twisty two-lane road.
8. I-95 in Connecticut
Congestion, curves and the hills in Connecticut’s Interstate 95 were mentioned as the main causes of the crashes in this area. The 8-mile section of I-95 around the city of Norwalk gets a record of 735 crashes per year.
9. U.S. 24 Fort Wayne to Toledo
Before it became a four-lane highway, the US highway 24 was known to be a dangerous two-way lane known for “gruesome head-on collisions” among tractor-trailer trucks that moved materials between factories in Ohio and Indiana.
10. I-15 from Los Angeles to Las Vegas
With more than 8 million people driving back and forth from southern Nevada to southern California. this 180-mile stretch is already a possible candidate for the list of most dangerous roads. It was reported before to have a death toll of 173 people in a five-year span prior to 2005. The usual causes of accidents include drunk driving and unused seatbelts.
