These Are the 15 Deadliest Intersections in the United States

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The number of traffic deaths in the United States is at a record high. While a traffic death can happen almost anywhere motor vehicles can travel, nearly a quarter of all the country’s fatal crashes happen at intersections. The Colorado-based Fang Law Firm combed through 20 years of crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to identify the country’s most dangerous intersections and why they are deadly.

The Fang Law Firm mentioned there were two significant factors behind the country’s deadliest intersections. First, most were secondary roads, usually state highways without limited access. These roads tend to have signaled or signed crossings with much slower local streets. It should be noted that the Fang Law Firm excluded crashes on highway interchanges, driveway exits, and pedestrian paths.

The report also noted that rural areas with populations of less than 2,500 people had a disproportionally high amount of fatal crashes. These areas are home to 18 percent of the U.S. population, but 36 percent of the countries’ deadly intersections are located there. The law firm hypothesized that speeds are higher and road designs are older in rural areas compared to urban and suburban areas.

The report states there are 15.8 million intersections in the continental United States. Between 2000 and 2019, there was at least one fatal crash at 147,000 intersections, fewer than one percent. Only 15 intersections had seven or more fatal crashes. Here are those 15 intersections by number of fatal crashes. The ties were broken by the intersection which had the most recent fatal crash.