New study reveals America's deadliest roads

State Route 611 in Philadelphia records a shocking 3.97 fatal crashes per mile, making it the deadliest road in America, according to a new analysis of NHTSA crash data.

Denver accident attorneys at the Law Firm of Jeremy Rosenthal examined National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data over a five-year period, identifying the deadliest roads across the country, and the most dangerous in every state. This was determined by identifying the roads with the highest number of traffic fatalities per mile.

The Philadelphia County section of Route 611, at just 6.29 miles long, suffered 25 fatal crashes during the five years analyzed. The short stretch averaged nearly 3.97 fatalities per mile, revealing that the Pennsylvania roadway has the highest fatality rate in America.

U.S. Highway 23 in Georgia's DeKalb County claimed second spot with 2.88 fatal collisions per mile. The highway section proved lethal despite measuring just 5.56 miles in the county, with 16 crashes killing 17 people.

Los Angeles County's South Central Avenue came third with 2.67 fatal crashes for each mile of road. The California route stretches slightly longer at 10.49 miles through LA County but experienced a concerning 28 fatal crashes with the same number of fatalities.

Along just 5.67 miles of State Highway 191 located in Ector County, Texas, there was a rate of 2.65 fatal crashes per mile between 2018-2022, with 17 total fatalities recorded. This places the highway fourth on the list of America's deadliest roads.

California's road network takes yet another spot in the top five, with State Route 1's 12.69 miles spanning Los Angeles County suffering 32 fatal crashes during the period considered, equating to a rate of 2.52 collisions per mile.

Half the nation's ten most dangerous roads were state highways. City streets accounted for three deadly entries while U.S. highways filled the final two spots in the ten most dangerous roadways.

America's 10 deadliest roads ranked by crashes per mile:

Rank	Road	State	County	Road Type	Road Length (miles)	Crashes Per Mile	Total Fatalities
1	State Route 611	Pennsylvania	Philadelphia County	State Highway	6.29	3.97	25
2	U.S. Hwy 23	Georgia	DeKalb County	U.S. Highway	5.56	2.88	17
3	S Central Ave	California	Los Angeles County	Metro / Municipal Road	10.49	2.67	28
4	State Hwy 191	Texas	Ector County	State Highway	5.67	2.65	17
5	State Route 1	California	Los Angeles County	State Highway	12.69	2.52	33
6	State Hwy 3	Michigan	Wayne County	State Highway	8.89	2.48	24
7	S 16th St	Arizona	Maricopa County	Metro / Municipal Road	5.14	2.34	12
8	U.S. Hwy 41	Florida	Manatee County	U.S. Highway	5.60	2.32	13
9	State Hwy 10	Connecticut	South Central Connecticut	State Highway	7.08	2.26	17
10	U.S. Hwy 41	Georgia	Clayton County	U.S. Highway	11.29	2.21	25

Jeremy Rosenthal of the Law Firm of Jeremy Rosenthal commented on the findings: "These figures highlight stark contrasts in road safety across America. Urban and rural areas show completely different risk patterns, with city roads recording much higher crash rates per mile. Most people think interstates are the biggest danger, but our data shows state highways and local streets often carry far greater risks.

"The high pedestrian death toll in urban areas points to serious road design problems. Drivers must be extra vigilant on these known danger routes, especially where pedestrian traffic is common."

Regional patterns emerged clearly in the data, with north-eastern and southern states showing higher concentrations of deadly roads. Among the top 20 most dangerous road segments nationwide, Tennessee took three spots, and together with Georgia, Florida, and Texas, the southern states accounted for nine of the deadliest roads, suggesting regional factors heavily influence road safety.