Florida Found To Have The Most Deadly Roads In America

Four out of the five deadliest highways in the country are located in the Sunshine State, according to a report recently released by Geotab, a vehicular data management company. It analyzed how many fatalities and fatal crashes occurred on our nation’s roads in the past 10 years, using figures provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as how much traffic is on those roads, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

The Top 5 Deadliest Roads In America

U.S. 1

Topping the list was U.S. 1, which enters the state just north of Jacksonville, runs down the east coast and then out onto the Florida Keys before terminating in Key West. Its 545-mile path through Florida takes it through 13 counties. It is the nation’s only road to exceed 1,000 fatalities over the past 10 years; 1,011 crashes on it during that time period resulted in 1,079 fatalities. Those figures resulted in a fatal crash rate, the number of fatal crashes per million vehicles on that road in an average year, of 2.78.

U.S. 1 carries many names as it makes its way through the state, including the Overseas Highway, South Dixie Highway, Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Philips Highway, Kings Avenue, Main Street, Ocean Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and New Kings Road.

U.S. 41

U.S. 41 is second on this list. This roadway enters the state from Georgia just north of Jasper, makes its way south to the Tampa Bay metropolitan area and then continues south before making a left turn in Naples and then terminating in Miami. During the past decade, 714 fatal crashes occurred along U.S. 41, which resulted in 772 fatalities. Its fatal crash rate was 2.16.

U.S. 27

Third was U.S. 27. This roadway enters Florida just north of Tallahassee before heading southeast through Ocala and then turning south just before Orlando. About 150 miles later, it heads southeast again for its final push towards Miami, its terminus. A total of 529 fatal crashes and 614 fatalities took place on U.S. 27 over the past 10 years, and its fatal crash rate was calculated at 2.13.

U.S. 83

The fourth-most dangerous highway during that time was the stretch of U.S. 83 located in Texas. This is the only deadliest hwy in the top 5 that is not located in Florida!

U.S. 441

Fifth was U.S. 441, the only one in the top five to go through Orlando. It makes its way into Florida north of Lake City and goes through the center of the state, including through the cities of Gainesville, Ocala and Orlando, before wrapping up its 435-mile journey in Miami. Over the past 10 years, 417 fatal crashes took place along this stretch of road, and 442 fatalities resulted from those incidents. It had a fatal crash rate of 1.77.

Other Florida Roads in the Top 10

Two other Floridian highways take up the number 9 and 10 spots on this list. U.S. 17 runs from Jacksonville to Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers; 387 fatal crashes resulted in 420 deaths here. U.S. 98, which takes a mostly west-to-east route from Pensacola to West Palm Beach, had 422 fatal crashes and 465 fatalities resulting from those during this period of time.

Two of the deadliest stretches of interstate highways were also located in Florida. I-75 was 30th amongst all highways; it traverses the state from north of Lake City, through Tampa and Fort Myers before cutting east at Naples and terminating in Miami Lakes. I-95, which placed 66th, hugs the east coast from Jacksonville to Miami.

On a Positive Note

The news from this report was not all troubling as State Road 826, a bypass route in the Miami metropolitan area, ranked third on Geotab’s list of safest roads in the country.