More guardrails can help, and we can widen shoulders so we have fewer vehicle flip-overs. "This is something absolutely that we have to tackle. "A disproportionate number of people are losing their lives along rural, two-lane roads," said former U.S. Because most of these roads are lightly traveled, their actual death rates per miles driven can be much higher even than along Interstate 15. Nearly 245,000 accidents occurred along country roads, small municipal streets and other minor routes, killing more than 265,000 people. Thousands of motorists died on roads that are reported in federal records to have "no name." But the Scripps study also found that small country roads have become some of the worst killing grounds. The roads with the highest death counts are predominately heavily used interstate highways like I-15. About a third of the accidents involved speeding, and nearly a quarter involved at least one driver who'd been drinking. So people start speeding up and stop paying attention."Īccording to federal files, more than half of the people who died on that section of I-15 were not wearing their seat belts. "But it's a straight route out in the middle of the desert where you can see for miles and miles. I've driven it many, many times," said Holly Vogel of the California Department of Transportation. That's more than double the death toll from any other road in any other county. During the 15-year period of the study, 1,069 people perished in 834 accidents. The study found that the single most deadly road is the 181-mile segment of Interstate 15 that passes through San Bernardino County, Calif., and connects Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Sometimes, the deadliest roads seem disarmingly safe - a small country lane winding gently through rolling hills or a perfectly straight superhighway stretching across a vast desert landscape. Department of Transportation, Scripps analyzed 562,712 fatal accidents from 1994 to 2008 that claimed 627,433 lives. Individual reports on the nation's 3,100 counties - including maps plotting the most recent fatalities color-coded by risk factor - can be seen at Using data provided by the U.S. What are the contributing factors? There must be a cause."Īs part of "Killer Roads," Scripps counted the number of deaths on every road in America and ranked the worst roads in each county. "Those locations need rigorous accident-investigation analysis. "We know there are sections of highways that are more dangerous, since they have more fatalities," said former Federal Highway Administrator Kenneth Wykle. Drivers distracted while texting, eating or using their cell phones are also a growing concern.īut often the roads themselves are to blame. Most of the traffic fatalities can be attributed to excessive speed, alcohol-impairment or failure to wear seat belts. While the carnage nationwide has fallen in recent years, 37,261 individuals died in vehicular accidents in 2008 - that's still more than 10 times the number who died in the attacks on Sept. More than 100 people perish every day on America's killer roads.Īnd the most deadly stretch of road in the country? Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to Scripps Howard News Service's "Killer Roads" national reporting project. The routine act of driving has become the riskiest thing most Americans do, producing more horrific body counts than any modern war or terrorist act.
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