Wearing a seatbelt is necessary no matter which road you’re traveling on, but there are some highways in Missouri on which you should probably be buckled in extra tight. A new study chronicles the 100 Most Dangerous Highways in the nation, and four highways in the state of Missouri feature on the list.
The list was compiled by The Daily Beast, and relied on fatal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For purposes of the study, the researchers looked at the number of fatal accidents and number of fatalities on highways across the country, during the three heavy-traffic months of June, July and August. Data was compiled and tabulated for the summer months of 2004, right through to the summer of 2008.
The most number of deadliest highways in the country are located in the states of Texas and California, which should come as no surprise to a Missouri accident lawyer, since these are large and heavily populated states. Both states have at least six of their highways mentioned on the list. However, the fact that Missouri which has a much smaller population than California or Texas, has four highways on the list should cause Kansas City injury lawyers some concern.
The four Missouri highways that feature on the list are:
- I-64 with a total of 16 fatal accidents resulting in 17 fatalities
- I-70 with a total of 201 fatal accidents resulting in 206 fatalities
- I-44 with a total of 190 fatal accidents resulting in 233 fatalities
- I-55 with a total of 108 fatal accidents resulting in 124 fatalities
The next few weeks will see massive vehicular traffic not only on these highways, but across the state of Missouri. As more residents begin their vacations, there will be more numbers of motorists on the highways, almost all of them in a holiday mood. Unfortunately, highway safety or preventing accidents are the last thing on your mind when you’re in your SUV and headed to a resort. It’s important, however, to remember that summertime accounts for some of the highest accident and fatality numbers of the year. Whether you’re traveling on any of these four highways or on any other stretch of road in Mississippi, follow these golden rules of being safe on highways.
- Avoid driving under the influence.
- Avoid driving at high speeds.
- Always wear your seatbelt.
- Switch off your cell phones and other electronic communication devices while driving.
