Is I-4 the most dangerous highway?

Florida's I-4 named deadliest highway in the nation This 132-mile-long highway, which connects Interstate 275 in Tampa to Interstate 95 in Daytona Beach and passes through Orlando, has 34 fatal car accidents every 100 miles, according to the Assurance study.

What is the deadliest mountain pass in America?

The Million Dollar Highway , “nestled high in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, is considered one of the most dangerous roads in America — and one of the most eye-poppingly scenic,” Reader's Digest said.

What highway has the most deaths in the world?

The BR-116 from Fortaleza to Jaguarão, nicknamed Rodovia da Morte or the Highway of Death by locals, is one of the world's most dangerous roads because it is the scene of thousands of deaths each year.

What is the highway of death in the United States?

“The Highway of Death” and “Suicide 6” in Connecticut I-95 meanders along nearly 2,000 miles of land, stretching from southern Florida to northern Maine. In Connecticut, I-95 covers about 112 miles, and has earned a few nicknames over the years. One is “the Connecticut Turnpike.” Another is “the Highway of Death.”

What is the scariest interstate?

In terms of fatalities per 100 miles, I-95 along the east coast is the most dangerous highway in the U.S. Also, US-41 was the only non-interstate highway in the top 10.

What road has the most accidents in the US?

1. US-1 , Florida. Not only has this part of US-1 had the most crashes by far of any highway, with 1,011 crashes reported, it also has the highest rate of fatalities: 1,079.

What is the most desolate highway in the United States?

US Route 50 This entire 3,000 mile route is dubbed “America's Loneliest Road.” Route 50's path cuts across the corner of Utah, passing by the Canyonlands National Park, the Arches National Park and through the vast emptiness of the Great Salt Lake Desert.

Which city in the US has the most car accidents?

The US city with the most car accidents is Baltimore, MD with a 153% collision likelihood. That is the highest percentage in any U.S. city. This is based on the average number of years between accidents per driver, and in Baltimore, the average is 4.2 years. This means that it's where most car crashes happen.

[Study] The Deadliest Highways in the United States (2024)

Posted in Firm News, Motor Vehicle Accidents on March 1, 2023

Unfortunately, fatal collisions occur every day throughout the United States. For a variety of reasons, however, some areas on roads and highways see far more fatal crashes than others.

Which American roads are the deadliest? Where are motorists killed most often?

Our Seattle personal injury lawyers worked with data visualization agency 1Point21 Interactive and examined 20 years of fatal crash data to find the answer.

We examined all fatal crashes that occurred on a primary road (or limited-access highways that connect to other roads only at interchanges) in the U.S. over a 20-year period – over 91,000 crashes in total.

Through our analysis, we identified the deadliest stretches of highway in the entire United States, along with the worst stretch in each state.

Table of Contents

The Deadliest Mile in America

On August 16, 2017, a teenage driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a concrete wall on the Interstate 95 exit ramp to State Road 84 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The driver was killed immediately in the crash and four others were injured. More recently, on March 1, 2021, another driver lost control of his pickup truck on the same one-mile stretch of I-95 and died at the scene.

Despite the bulk of our analysis focusing on ten-mile sections of highways, we started smaller. First, we found the deadliest single mile in the entire United States – a one-mile section of I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

This section of I-95 is the deadliest mile in the United States. From 2000 and 2019, 23 fatal crashes (and 24 deaths) occurred on this one-mile stretch of highway.

To put this into context, during this time period, there were an average of .479 fatal crashes per mile over the entire U.S. primary road system. This stretch of I-95 saw nearly 50 times the number of fatal crashes than the average highway mile. In fact, if you were to drive through it at 60 miles per hour, you would pass the site of a fatal crash every 2.6 seconds.

This section of Interstate 95, along with its complex interchanges with I-595 and Marina Mile Boulevard (also known as State Road 84), has been known as the region’s deadliest crossroads for decades. Despite safety warnings, many motorists continue to exit onto Marina Mile Boulevard at high speeds but find themselves unprepared to handle the ramp’s sharp 90-degree turn that lies ahead. The state has also planned to add speed warning signs with flashing beacons, speed limit feedback signs, and speed limit pavement messages within the next few years, as part of the interstate’s improvement project.

The Deadliest 10-Mile Stretches of Highway in the U.S.

We investigated the entire primary U.S. road system to find the deadliest 10-mile segment in each state. We found that all ten of the deadliest highway stretches were in either Texas or Florida – seven were concentrated in Houston and Dallas, Texas, and three in South Florida. During the study period, more than one thousand people lost their lives on these 10 stretches of road.

Dallas was home to five of the deadliest stretches – more than any other city. All five stretches of road are major regional thoroughfares and are some of the most congested highways in Texas. They are heavily used for daily commutes during rush hour traffic.

The deadliest stretch of road in the entire United States can be found in Houston, Texas. This section of I-45 runs right through Houston, Texas between exits 49B to 60A. On average, there were 7.7 fatal crashes on that 10-mile stretch every year. The worst year was 2006, with 15 crashes.

The Ten Deadliest Highway Areas in the United States

Rank	Road	Exits	State	Metro	Crashes	Deaths
1	I-45	49B – 60A	TX	Houston	142	148
2	I-35E	430C-440B	TX	Dallas	136	144
3	I-95	18-27	FL	Miami	132	146
4	I-30	45B – 55	TX	Dallas	130	138
5	I-35E	420-430B	TX	Dallas	118	128
6	I-635	8A-19A	TX	Dallas	112	122
7	I-95	7 – 16	FL	Miami	108	123
8	I-45	38-47D	TX	Houston	104	111
9	US-75	20B-284B	TX	Dallas	100	107
10	SR-826	NW 74th St – NW 37th ave	FL	Miami	66	67

[Interactive Map] See the Deadliest Areas on US Highways

List: The Deadliest Highway Stretch by State

State	Closest Metro Area	Route Name	Exits	Fatal Crashes	Deaths
TX	Dallas	I-35	49B-60A	142	148
FL	Miami	I-95	7-16	132	135
CA	Los Angeles	I-710	6A-15	108	118
LA	New Orleans	I-10	231A-241	93	96
GA	Atlanta	I-20	44-53	83	89
MI	Detroit	I-75	52-61	79	86
RI	Providence	I-95	16-29	77	80
TN	Memphis	I-240	21-32	74	87
IL	Chicago	I-94	61B-71B	70	74
WA	Seattle	I-5	161-169	70	73
MO	St. Louis	I-44	199-290C	69	72
AL	Birmingham	I-20	115-124A	69	71
MD	Washington	I-495	4A-13	65	70
NY	New York	I-87	1-14 (Bronx), 1-2 (Westchester)	63	65
IN	Chicago	I-80	1- 10	62	65
AZ	Phoenix	US Hwy 60	173-182	62	64
PA	Philadelphia	I-95	19-27	61	67
NV	Las Vegas	I-15	37-46	60	65
NC	Charlotte	I-85	33-43	60	63
MS	Jackson	I-20	92B-100	59	69
OK	Tulsa	I-44	222A-231	58	59
AR	Little Rock	I-30	126-135	56	59
OH	Columbus	I-70	99A-116	53	59
CO	Denver	I-70	273-282	53	55
NJ	Newark	Garden State Pkwy	136-145	52	55
CT	New Haven	I-95	40-51	49	50
DE	Philadelphia	I-95	3-8	44	49
NM	Albuquerque	I-25	240-252	42	53
WV	Hagerstown	I-81	8-16W	41	47
KY	Cincinnati	I-71	180-189	41	42
MN	Minneapolis	I-94	229-238	40	45
SC	Columbia	I-26	103-113	40	42
ID	Nampa	I-84	28-36	38	42
MA	Boston	I-93	8-17B	38	39
UT	Salt Lake City	I-15	300-309	37	40
NE	Omaha	I-80	445-453	35	36
VA	Virginia Beach	I-64	250A-258B	33	41
KS	Kansas City	I-35	225-234	33	34
HI	Honolulu	I-H-1	18A-26	31	31
OR	Portland	I-5	298-308	30	30
MT	Billings	I-90	443-450	28	31
IA	Des Moines	I-35	131-141	27	29
WY	Laramie	I-80	311-323	26	33
WI	Milwaukee	I-43	77-314	24	24
NH	Nashua	Frederick E Everett Tpke	5-12	22	22
AK	Anchorage	State Hwy 1	N Eagle River-Eklutna	20	22
SD	Rapid City	I-90	37-46	17	20
ME	Kennebunk	I-95	19-25	15	17
VT	Hanover	I-91	9-10B	12	13
ND	Fargo	I-94	331-343	9	9

Anatomy of a Deadly Stretch

The highway segments with the most fatal crashes are overwhelmingly located within urban areas and are most likely to contain interchanges.

An interchange is an intersection between two primary roadways. Across the entire primary roadway system, there is approximately one interchange every 11.5 miles. Our deadliest 10-mile stretches each contain an average of 1.16 interchanges – 33 percent more than expected.

84 percent of the segments we identified were located partially or fully within the largest metropolitan area in the state. Only three segments, in North Dakota and Vermont, are located fully outside a metro area – though within three miles of it.

Below we include detail on each state’s deadliest highway stretch, grouped by geographic region.

The Western United States

In the western region, the deadliest ten-mile stretch by the total number of fatal crashes was found in California (108).

The Midwest Region

In the midwest, the deadliest ten-mile stretch when ranking by the total number of fatal crashes was found in Michigan (79), closely followed by Illinois (70) and Missouri (69).

The Northeast Region

In the northeastern region, Rhode Island had the deadliest ten-mile stretch of highway by the number of total fatal crashes (77).

The Southern Region

In the southern region, the deadliest ten-mile stretch of highway by the total number of fatal crashes was located in Texas (136), closely followed by Florida (132).

Takeaways and Data Sources

While car accidents can occur anywhere or at any time, we can see from this study that there are stretches of road that may warrant extra care and caution on the part of the driver. Many are located in Florida and Texas, in urban areas, and contain interchanges.

With this in mind, drive slower on these deadly stretches of road, drive without distraction, and drive without drug or alcohol impairment. On America’s deadliest stretches of road, a little extra speed can make the difference between life and death, and losing control of your wheel. Slowing down and adjusting to the speed limit, especially while exiting a highway and entering a sharp turn in an exit ramp, can save lives – yours and the drivers around you. Driving slower and more cautiously allows you increased reaction time. It enables you to drive more defensively and protect yourself from other drivers.

This study is based on 2000-2019 fatal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). We only looked at crashes that occurred on a primary road. Primary roads are limited-access highways that connect to other roads only at interchanges and not at at-grade intersections.

If you would like to republish any of the data, images, or findings included, please provide credit by linking to this page.