People who drive or ride motorcycles are usually confident in their skills to get them to their destination safely. While it starts with formal training, they also gain experience from thousands of miles on the road. Good skills can be the difference between recognizing and avoiding danger and suffering the consequences if they do not.
Practicing safe driving habits is vital, but some statistics should cause riders in California a twinge of unease. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), three of the country’s most dangerous highways run through the Golden State.
The big three
The national average for traffic fatalities in 2019 (the most recent year of complete data) is 1.37 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. Crashes and injuries can happen anywhere, but these three interstates are particularly dangerous:
- I-5: No surprise, really. This highway goes through the most populated parts of the state, passing to the east of the Bay Area. The most dangerous highway in California, there are about 13.5 bike fatalities per 100 million miles traveled on this road annually.
- I-15: Heading northeast from San Diego, this is a much shorter stretch than the I-5, but there are still about 11 deaths per 100 million miles traveled along this highway each year.
- I-40: A principal east-west artery for the entire country, there are roughly ten traffic fatalities per 100 million miles traveled along this highway each year.
Since these are interstate highways, these numbers include data from other segments of the roads, but the stretches in California are among the most lethal for all three.
It may be a case of negligence
People make mistakes from time to time when they drive. Ideally, this involves nothing more than an angry honk from another vehicle. The stakes are much higher when drivers are traveling highway speeds, and those honking may end up being a victim of mistakes or negligence. Whether the crash occurred on one of these three highways or another road, victims or their families can work with a personal injury attorney to maximize the compensation for injuries, pain and suffering that they are entitled to under the law.
