In Miami, we know that I-95 is a notoriously bad stretch of highway. If you aren’t stuck in a seemingly endless traffic jam, you are dodging speeders and wreckless lane changers, hoping you reach your exit before you get into a dangerous car accident.
So it should not surprise you to learn that the portion of 95 that passes through Miami-Dade County is considered one of the deadliest. That is according to a study of the entire interstate. The study found more fatal auto accidents here in 2015 than in any other county that 95 runs through. Remember, 95 runs all the way up the East Coast to the Maine-Canada border.
In fact, with 14 fatal crashes that year, Miami-Dade’s section of I-95 had such deadly incidents at eight times the national rate for interstates. Statewide, the interstate is an unsafe place to drive. Data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that, from 2004 to 2008, there were 662 fatal wrecks and 765 total deaths on I-95 in Florida. With just 382 miles of I-95 in the state, that meant an average of 1.73 deadly crashes per mile over that time. Based on that, the NHTSA called our state’s portion of the interstate the most dangerous in the U.S.
Other deadly Florida roads
Interstate 95 may be the worst, but it is not the only road where severe car crashes are all too frequent. The NHTSA study ranked Interstate 4 as the country’s third-most dangerous. And a 2017 study rated four of our highways as among the five most dangerous in the country. They are:
- U.S. 1
- U.S. 41 in Tampa
- U.S. 27
- U.S. 441
Why Florida?
There probably are many factors to explain why the Sunshine State has so many deaths in highway accidents. Express lanes could be one. These lanes tend to be thin and leave very little room on the shoulder. Other factors likely include speeders and drivers who do not signal before changing lanes.
Take action after a loved one’s death
Nobody should have to risk their lives on a Florida highway. If you have lost a spouse, parent or child in a car accident due to someone else’s negligence, you should consider talking with an experienced personal injury attorney about your legal options.