Dangerous Roads in California
Auto accidents remain as one of the leading causes of deaths. Dangerous roads are a leading factor for car accidents.
The roadway design itself can make a road dangerous. Roads can be considered dangerous and poorly designed if its road barriers, utility poles, railroad crossings, and guardrails are not designed with safety in mind. Older roads would also need safety upgrades such as center median dividers, additional travel lanes, wider shoulders and rumble strips.
However, there are other considerations that make a road a threat to the safety of motorists:
- Roadside Hazards- Examples of roadside hazards are site obstructions, poorly marked construction zones, grade crossings, and pavement edge drops.
- Roadway Surfaces- Weather conditions can aggravate existing hazards and sometimes create new road surfaces. An example would be ice and snow on the road.
- Visibility of Road signs- Faded road signs, and signs obscured by foliage, obstructed view of the traffic light signals, speed limit signs, yield and stop and other traffic or road signs and warnings can make a road more dangerous than it actually is.
- Traffic- Interstate highways and one way streets remain the safest roads because their flow of traffic is in one direction. Two-lane roadways are statistically the most dangerous because of a high incidence of deadly head-on collisions.
California freeways are notorious for heavy traffic and fatal collisions. In fact, head on collisions, overturned vehicles and cars going off the road are common incidents in State Road 138 in Southern California.
Other dangerous roads in California include Highway 5, Highway 8, Southern California’s Highway 37, and Highway 74. These roads are considered as some of the most dangerous highways in the United States.
Drivers should never be too confident in their driving; dangerous roads such as those mentioned above require utmost concentration to navigate. Weather conditions such as fog or snow should also make drivers all the more vigilant on the road.
Dangerous roads have been death traps for many unsuspecting and overconfident motorists.