Most Dangerous Virginia Highways For Summer Travel Identified

VIRGINIA — Summer means more people pack the roads in Virginia, headed to destinations like Virginia Beach, D.C. or the Blue Ridge Mountains. With more drivers on the roads comes an increased risk of injuries or fatalities.

A new report from home security website ASecureLife looked at three years worth of traffic fatality reports to determine which highways are the most dangerous in each state. The report identified three highways for each state and the number of fatalities from May through September in 2015 to 2017. All data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Virginia's most dangerous highway can be found away from Northern Virginia. It's US-58, which stretches from the Virginia Beach coast to the Virginia/Kentucky border. For the study time period, the road had 45 fatalities.

Interstates 95 and 81 closely followed with 44 and 43 fatalities, respectively. I-95 was identified as a top three dangerous road in Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island. I-81 was identified as a top three dangerous road in New York and Pennsylvania.

SEE ALSO: Study Of Interstate 95 Underway In Virginia

Several new highway traffic safety laws took effect July 1 in Virginia. Drivers cannot drive in a highway work zone while holding a handheld personal communication device. This could lead to a fine of $250. The other new law increases the penalty for drivers not moving over one lane on highways with at least four lanes when approaching certain stationary vehicles such as emergency vehicles. This changes the offense from a traffic infraction to a Class 1 misdemeanor.

In 2018, the number of overall crash fatalities fell in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles' Highway Safety Office. The 819 reported fatalities is less than the 843 in 2017. Those results varied by category. While motorcyclist and unrestrained fatalities fell, the numbers of alcohol-related, teen driver, pedestrian and speed-related fatalities increased.

ASecureLife's study found larger states tended to have more fatalities on its most dangerous roads. California led the U.S. with 192 fatalities on Interstate 5. There were some exceptions, like Florida's 160 fatalities on its most dangerous road, compared to 159 in the larger Texas. DC, the smallest of the jurisdictions in the study, had three fatalities on the Suitland Parkway.

See the full study on most dangerous highways in the U.S. in summer.