Deadliest Highway by State [Updated March 2023]

Every state in the country has highway fatalities each year. In 2020, about 38,000 people died in car accidents. While states with large populations like Florida, Texas, and California have the most deaths due to car accidents, every state has a highway that is the most dangerous in its state. However, some highways seem to be more prone to accidents and resulting deaths.

Florida, for example, has approximately 108 highway fatalities on its most dangerous highway, U.S. 1. U.S. 1 extends to Maine, where it is also the most dangerous highway within the state, although a much smaller number of 10 deaths took place on the highway within Maine. Interstate 4 is another dangerous highway within the state, ranking as the third most dangerous road in the country.

Tennessee is the state with the next most dangerous highway in the country, I-40, with 52 deaths each year. I-40 is also noted as the most dangerous highway in both New Mexico and Arizona, where 40 and 35 deaths, respectively, were reported.

Another interstate, I-80, is the most dangerous highway in five states. Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, Nevada, and Pennsylvania all rank I-80 as the highway responsible for the most automotive deaths within their states.

I-95, which is the most dangerous highway in South Carolina, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The interstate is responsible for 74.4 deaths in 2020 in the four states.

Below is a chart showing the deadliest highway in each state and how many deaths it records annually.