These Are the Most Dangerous Highways in the United States

ValuePenguin, an organization that conducts research and analysis, ranked the 50 most dangerous highways in the United States based on information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (NHTSA-FARS).

Information was pulled from crashes that occurred during the seven-year period between 2010 and 2016, and the organization's findings were released on June 28, according to ValuePenguin. To calculate the most dangerous highways, analysts developed a grading system based on fatal crashes per vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) per capita, fatalities per crash and the percentage of fatal non-vehicle collisions.

These three factors allowed ValuePenguin to take into account local ridership, where the deadliest crashes occur on average, and the safety risks on each road that weren't caused by dealing with other drivers.

Taking the top spot as the most dangerous highway in America was US-93 in Arizona with 70 fatal crashes and 90 fatalities. The most fatal crashes occurred in Mohave County, which is located about 125 miles from Las Vegas. The Arizona portion of the highway runs about 200 miles from Wickenburg, Arizona, to the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge.

In second place was Oklahoma State Highway 9, which is the second longest highway in the state of Oklahoma. A total of 50 fatal crashes occurred during the seven-year period with the majority of them happening along the portion of the road in Cleveland County.

US-160 in Colorado was ranked third on the list with 80 fatal crashes and 99 fatalities from 2010 to 2016. La Plata County, located near San Juan National Forest, was responsible for the majority of fatalities, though ValuePenguin noted that Wolf Creek Pass is also dangerous because of its steep roadways and switchbacks.

Rounding out the top five spots were I-5 in California with 680 fatal crashes and 768 fatalities and I-10 in Texas, which had 585 fatal crashes and 676 fatalities from 2010 to 2016.

The 50 most dangerous highways were represented by 22 different states, below, spreading across the country from Connecticut to California.

Alabama

Five highways in Alabama made the list: I-65, I-59, I-85, I-10 and SR-69 were ranked as numbers 11, 24, 29, 32 and 46 respectively. I-65 had the most fatalities with 271 death stemming from 248 fatal crashes.

Arizona

Along with taking the top spot, Arizona's I-10 and SR-95 also made the list at spots 12 and 33. Similarly to US-93 in Arizona, SR-95's most dangerous section was also identified as Mohave County.

California

Highways in California made the list a total of six times, including I-5, which claimed the number four spot. Other winners were SR-2, which came in the 14th spot, US-101 at 16, I-8 at 39, SR-99 at 43 and SR-78 at 49.

Colorado

US-160 in Colorado came in third with 80 fatal crashes and 99 fatalities.

Connecticut

US-1 in Connecticut took the 41st spot with 59 fatal car crashes and 61 fatalities. Fairfield County is the most dangerous stretch.

Florida

Florida graced the list four times with highways I-10, I-95, I-75 and US-1 taking spots eight, nine, 27 and 40.

Georgia

SR-15 in Georgia was ranked number 31 with 59 fatal crashes, and I-16 was ranked number 38.

Indiana

Indiana only made the list once with I-69 taking the number 22 spot. There were a total of 62 fatal crashes and 80 fatalities.

Iowa

I-80 in Iowa was ranked number seven and had 108 fatal crashes, resulting in 135 fatalities.

Kansas

Kansas only made the list once with I-35, which had 82 fatal crashes and 102 fatalities, coming in 19th place.

Louisiana

SR-182 in Louisiana placed 21 out of the 50 most dangerous highways, and the Terrebonne Parish stretch was the most dangerous part of the road.

Mississippi

Mississippi highways also only made the list once with I-10 coming in 10th with 60 fatal crashes and 80 fatalities.

Missouri

Three highways in Missouri—US-60, US-67 and US-54—made the top 50 list at spots 30, 37 and 44 respectively.

Nebraska

Nebraska's I-80 took spot 17, and ValuePenguin identified 139 fatal crashes that occurred from 2010 to 2016, with Dawson County being the most dangerous stretch.

New Mexico

Taking two spots on the list were New Mexico's US-550 at spot 15 and I-10 at spot 36.

North Carolina

North Carolina only appeared once on the list at spot 47, which belonged to US-264.

Ohio

US-6 in Ohio experienced 76 fatal crashes and 84 fatalities between 2010 and 2016, earning it the number 28 spot.

Oklahoma

SR-9 in Oklahoma had 50 fatal crashes and 60 fatalities from 2010 to 2016, earning it the number two spot.

Oregon

I-84 in Oregon claimed the number 13 spot, and Umatilla County proved to be the most dangerous part of the highway that had 69 fatal crashes and 85 fatalities.

Texas

Texas was overwhelmingly the most dangerous state for highways, taking a total of 11 spots, two of which were in the top 10. Spots five and six belonged to I-10 and I-20. I-35, US-59, SR-105 and US-82 were ranked 20, 23, 25 and 26, respectively.

US-385 and US-290 took spots 34 and 35, and US-175 and US-83 claimed 42 and 45. I-40 in Texas closed out the list at the final spot, 50. Dallas County was considered the most dangerous stretch in three of the 11 cases.

West Virginia

Number 48 belonged to I-64 in West Virginia, which had 56 fatal car crashes and 67 fatalities.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin only appeared once on the list at spot 18, which was given to SR-35.

I-10 made the list a total of six times, making it the highway that appeared the most times on the list. ValuePenguin also evaluated where crashes involving drunk drivers occurred the most and which highways experienced longest wait times for emergency medical services to arrive.