If you're thinking of taking a road trip anytime soon, make sure you plan your routes carefully. Obviously, you should pick highways that have interesting roadside attractions, like the World's Largest Wheelbarrow or a potato chip shaped like Elvis, but you should also consider which interstates will be the safest. It's impossible to avoid bad drivers altogether, but there are some highways where the idiots on the road combined with bad driving conditions and construction make them very dangerous places to travel. These are the country's 25-mile-or-longer stretches of interstate with the most deaths per mile based on national statistics. Avoid them if you can, or at least drive very, very carefully.
Interstate 95 in Florida: The main north-south highway along Florida's east coast generally tops rankings of the most dangerous speedways in the U.S. I-95 runs from Miami to Georgia for about 380 miles and has seen an alarming number of fatalities over the years. In fact, do a quick Internet news search of the highway and you'll get a list of headlines about deadly crashes. Between 2004 and 2008, there were 765 deaths on I-95. That's about two fatalities per mile. This section of interstate makes up almost 5% of Florida's traffic fatalities during those years. The Florida Department of Transportation says the road is congested, which contributes to accidents, but they will probably not be able to widen the road any more than the 10 and 12 lanes they already have in some areas.
Interstate 4 in Florida: I-4 is an interstate contained entirely in the state of Florida. The term interstate sounds strange in this instance, but highways can rightly be called interstates if they are part of the national, interconnected system. I-4 runs for 132 miles across Florida and contains an interchange lovingly referred to as "Malfunction Junction." From 2004 to 2008, there were 234 fatalities on this interstate, or 1.77 per mile. But before you put Florida on your list of states to never visit, you should know that Interstate 4 is being widened at the moment, the problematic junction has been rebuilt, and Florida's fatality accident rate has been dropping since 2005.
Interstate 15 in California: This interstate is a major thoroughfare in California, running north and south and serving 300,000 people every day. It extends 287 miles and is a well-traveled route between Southern California and Las Vegas, and also between San Diego and the Riverside-San Bernandino area. There were 506 deaths on this highway between 2004 and 2008, making it only slightly less hazardous than I-4 in Florida with 1.76 fatalities per mile. A $349 million construction project to improve I-15 may have complicated the roadway during the time the statistics were taken and could bring the number of fatalities down now that the major construction is completed, though there is undoubtedly new construction to dodge.
Interstate 10 in California: I-10 is the major highway that runs east and west across the Southern U.S., spanning almost coast to coast. In California, this highway links Los Angeles with the Riverside-San Bernandino area, so it's understandably very busy. Because of this, there were 387 fatalities on I-10 in California in a five-year time span. That's about 1.6 deaths per mile for the 142 miles in the state. Local officials in the Riverside area say it's not necessarily road design that makes this throughway so dangerous; drivers travel at speeds unsafe for the road conditions. So if you have to take this road, keep your eyes open for drivers to avoid.
Interstate 94 in Illinois: This highway has 61 miles in the northeast corner of the state of Illinois and serves the Chicago area, which may contribute to its high number of accidents. It runs through downtown Chicago and to the southern suburbs, with some strange lane arrangements along the way, ranging from four lanes to 14 lanes. If you're unfamiliar with the area, you may not know what to expect on this road, especially along the portion of I-94 that is part of the Tri-State Tollway where mileposts increase as you go west. If seeing this gives you the urge to cross several lanes of traffic to exit, just stay calm and take your time on this perilous highway. From 2004 to 2008, there were 89 fatalities from accidents on I-94. Police in Illinois, along with those from three other states, recently announced they will be increasing patrols on I-94. They say they'll be looking for people speeding, texting, driving recklessly or under the influence of alcohol, and those without seat belts.
Interstate 12 in Louisiana: Eighty-five miles long and completely contained within Louisiana, Interstate 12 offers a shortcut for I-10 travelers who don't want to go south and through New Orleans on their way through the state. Beware, though; within five years, there were 124 fatalities on those 85 miles. Whether drivers are distracted by Lake Pontchartrain to the south or the highway is just too congested, this is a road to take with caution. In recent years, Louisiana officials have had emergency safety meetings regarding some areas of the road where accidents were being caused frequently by driver error. To try to combat bad driving, they increased police patrol, lowered the speed limit, and added signs to encourage safe driving.
Interstate 93 in Massachusetts: This New England highway goes through (and under) Boston before entering New Hampshire. Up to 200,000 vehicles travel the 47 miles contained in Massachusetts every day, and the highway is so vital to Boston traffic that it's known as the Central Artery. This section of I-93 runs beneath downtown Boston in tunnels. Though the city's gotten rid of the above-ground section of the interstate that used to be referred to as The Distressway, the highway has still seen 67 fatalities from 2004 to 2008. Traffic headaches were undoubtedly caused during that time period by the huge construction project that was putting I-93 completely underground, the Big Dig, which was completed in 2007 after running into several speed bumps (figuratively, of course). Several projects are under way to relieve congestion on the highway in Boston, but this just means you should be cautious of construction on the road in Boston and beyond.
Interstate 45 in Texas: This 285-mile roadway in East Texas runs from the Gulf of Mexico up to Dallas and is the main route between Dallas and Houston. With much of the stretch made up of four lanes and no major cities, the route is inviting for speeders and unexciting for tired drivers. In a five-year period, there were 388 deaths on I-45, or about 1.36 fatalities per mile of road. You might want to avoid the highway during hurricane season, as it is a major evacuation route. In 2005, under the threat of Hurricane Rita, drivers flocked to the northbound highway, causing a traffic jam of almost a hundred miles -- maybe not dangerous, but definitely annoying. The section of the interstate in Houston was also found to be the most dangerous highway for teenage drivers in Texas. Between 2006 and 2010, there were more than 3,000 accidents involving teens on that part of I-45. So if you see a young person cruising along next to you, steer clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment