Washington State has a reputation of having some of the worst drivers in the US. Other than increasing population and rough, mountainous landscape, this reputation is also upheld by the fact that the Evergreen State has dangerous roads.
Here are some of them:
State Route 522
Washingtonians has nicknames State Route 544 as the “highway of death”, and it has also gained national notoriety. It has appeared in prominent lists of the nation’s most accident-prone highways over the last few decades, including the 10 deadliest highways published by Reader’s Digest in the 1990s, and Forbes’ “America’s Killer Roads” list in 2007.
The highway stretches from Monroe, all the way to the metropolitan area of Seattle. Driving through it, you will find that it has two lanes instead of the four that it was originally meant to be. The road curves a lot, with few dividers and cars simply zooming by, especially when nearing I-5. With all these factors that make SR 522 dangerous, the miles and miles of traffic left by car accidents often give commuters hell.
State Route 20
Taking State Route 20 lets you pass through two mountain passes, namely the Washington Pass and the Rainy Pass. Washington Pass is right in the heart of the North Cascades National Park, giving SR 20 the cognomen ‘North Cascades Highway’. The views are breathtaking, but this road just might literally take your breath away if you are not careful.
The Rainy Pass sits at over 4,800 feet above sea level, while the Washington Pass is at over 5,400 feet above sea level. Both are prone to violent snowstorms and avalanches, and are so dangerous that they are typically closed from November to May each year.
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, and parallel to the Pacific coast. The lanes of I-5 precisely split the Evergreen State in half, and has the most traffic of any other Pacific Northwest Highway. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), over 200,000 cars and trucks use I-5 every day.
Due to the high traffic, a car crash law firm in Lynnwood may handle cases related to I-5 just as much as their counterpart in Salmon Creek. Geotab hails this highway as the deadliest in the entire Evergreen State, with nearly 25 fatal crashes taking place on its Washington section every year.
Highway 2
US 2 in Washington runs from Everett to the Idaho state line in Newport. It is a rugged and remote road on which over 60 people died in car accidents in the last 15 years. If you get into an accident here, particularly when traveling between Seattle and Spokane, you will be on your own for a time. It usually takes 80 minutes for ambulances and emergency responders to reach the victims on this section of US 2. To address the danger, the WSDOT installed median dividers to prevent head-on crashes. However, this highway is still a potential deathtrap for a lot of motorists.
When you find yourself in any of these roads, drive slow and take extra care. You may be a good driver, but others may not be as mindful.
