With the winter holidays approaching and more drivers taking to the roads to visit loved ones, the risks associated with driving on America’s highways and interstates increase exponentially. Thousands lose their lives in car accidents each year due to a number of avoidable factors, according to accident attorneys and other federal data. But when looking at the national statistics, some roads are more dangerous than others. Here, we will look at eight of the country’s most accident-prone, deadly interstate corridors.
I-4 and I-95 in Florida are home to two of the deadliest stretches of road in the country. A personal injury attorney in West Palm Beach serves several clients each year from accidents that occur on I-95. Florida has some of the highest average annual rainfall numbers in the country, along with other gulf states, but these interstates’ reputations cannot be chalked up to weather alone. Commuters along the I-95 interstate corridor in east Florida have blamed the road’s reputation on reasons such as constant construction, aggressive driving, frequent bad weather, and high congestion. A 12-mile stretch of I-59 in Louisiana also boasts a high concentration of fatality accidents each year, mostly due to construction and frequent flooding.
Further north, a small 3-mile stretch of I-76 in New Jersey lays claim to approximately half a dozen lives per year, which makes it one of the deadliest interstate corridors when looking at average deaths per mile. Heavy traffic and the road’s proximity to the state line near Philadelphia is the likely culprit for I-76’s statistics. I-94 in Chicago and I-93 in Massachusetts are other spans of interstate prone to deadly accidents. Unlike the wet weather conditions experienced along the Gulf States, snow and ice are attributing factors to these stretches of highway.
On the west coast in California, I-15 and I-10 are two other deadly interstates. California is one of the most populace and most visited states in the country, and subsequently averages a high amount of vehicular traffic each year. The fatalities on these two interstates have been attributed to distracted or impaired driving and a high average of drivers and passengers not wearing their seatbelts.
Much like a personal injury attorney in West Palm Beach, accident attorneys nationwide take on cases each year related to accidents and fatalities that occur on America’s interstates. While some factors that contribute to the deadly reputation of these eight highways cannot be changed or avoided by the driver (such as weather conditions, road maintenance, or road quality), there are always behaviors and habits that a driver can employ to minimize risk. Refraining from reckless or distracted driving, always wearing a seatbelt, and driving sober are all things that will decrease the likelihood of causing a driver, passengers, and other drivers on the road to become part of these national fatality statistics.