Pennsylvania is crisscrossed with hundreds of roads and highways that provide residents, commuters, and transportation companies with access to their homes and businesses. With over 120,000 miles of roads and highways and hundreds of thousands of people on the roads every day, it is inevitable that there will be vehicle accidents on the road. According to a report issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation documenting crash statistics, there were over 127,000 reportable traffic accidents in the state. This leads us to wonder where are accidents more likely to occur in the Keystone State? This blog post will explore some of the most dangerous roads in Pennsylvania.
The Most Dangerous Roads in Pennsylvania
Interstate 95/Interstate 76
Interstate 95 which is sometimes known as the Delaware Expressway, this road has a notorious interchange with Interstate 76. According to a report issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this road was at one time listed in the top 50 of the 100 most deadly roads in the United States. Between the years of 2004 and 2008, there were 41 fatal accidents which resulted in 46 deaths making earned this road the dubious rank of 39th on the top 100 most fatal roads in the United States. While this may not seem like a substantial amount of accidents and fatalities, consider that when you break it down this works to one fatality per every mile of this road.
Interstate 83 near Harrisburg
Interstate 83 runs between Baltimore and Harrisburg Pennsylvania, making this road an ideal road for motorists traveling between these two cities to use. In Pennsylvania, this road is named the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the united States Memorial Highway. While this road provides access to many smaller areas of central Pennsylvania, such as Shrewsbury and York, the most dangerous sections of this road are those between Lemoyne and the Eisenhower Interchange. During the morning and thousands of people flood into the city of Harrisburg, so much so that the population of the State’s capital double each morning, and is cut in half each evening. This makes Interstate 83 near Harrisburg one of the most heavily traveled roads in central Pennsylvania.
Interstate 81
Another road in Pennsylvania that has earned a place as one of the most dangerous roads is Interstate 81. This road cuts through Chambersburg and Carlisle and nearly 85,000 drivers use this road every day. This road has been the site of numerous accidents including a 50-car pile-up in March of 2014 that killed two people. Even more recently, on December 28th, 2016, a crash involving a tractor-trailer shut down a large part of interstate 81 for several hours.
Roosevelt Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Many people believe that most accidents will occur on the more heavily traveled roads, or the interstate highways. However, they might be surprised to learn that one of the most dangerous roads in Pennsylvania, as measured by the number of accidents, is not on a major highway but rather on a thoroughfare in Philadelphia. Roosevelt Boulevard consists of six 12-foot wide lanes running in two directions. In addition to the sheer number of people who use this road on a daily basis, there is a major problem with speeding on this stretch of road, with drivers often exceeding the posted 45 miles an hour limit.
Most Dangerous Counties in Pennsylvania
Not only are individual roads dangerous, but depending on what county you are in Pennsylvania, there may be an increased risk of being involved in an accident with a large truck or any vehicle for that matter.
- Philadelphia County – in 2015 there were a reported 94 fatalities related to traffic accidents
- Bucks County – in 2015 there was a total of 56 fatalities related to traffic accidents.
- Allegheny County – in 2015 there was a total of 54 fatalities related to traffic accidents.
- Lancaster County – in 2015 there was a total of 48 fatalities related to traffic accidents.
- Westmoreland County – in 2015 there was a total of 41 fatalities related to traffic accidents.
While Bensalem County did not make it into the top five most dangerous counties based on the number of fatalities, at one time an intersection in Bensalem Pennsylvania located where Knights Road crosses Street Road was given the unenviable title of most dangerous intersection in the United States. According to data released from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during a one year audit, there were 144 crashes leading up to the audit, wherein 170 people lost their lives.
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