10 Most Dangerous Roads in the U.S.

Each day I speak with customers getting ready to embark on a cross-country move. They're often contemplating whether it makes more sense to hire someone to drive their moving truck, or go the do-it-yourself truck rental route.

One thing I always recommend is for customers to consider the roads they'll be traveling on to get to their destination. While the majority of U.S. highways are perfectly fine, some are considered dangerous— whether because of damage to the existing infrastructure, bad design, roaming animals or bad drivers.

Buyingadvice.com, an online firm that provides road and automobile information for people in the market for a vehicle, has researched to determine the 10 most dangerous roads in the U.S. And the winners are (drum roll please)….

1. Colorado 550 from Ouray to Silverton
   Can you say scary? This 2-lane highway, sometimes called the "Million Dollar Highway", is mountainous and full of sharp s-curves. You'll see steep cliffs, narrow lanes and very few guardrails. The area is also smack in the middle of many animals' migration patterns, so you may see them bounding down mountain sides. And if you're traveling during the winter, beware of avalanches. You may want to reconsider making this drive in a rental truck.
2. Los Angeles, California 101 to I-405 Interchange
   If you watched the O.J. Simpson chase on TV, you've seen "The 405". It's one of the most heavily traveled and congested freeways in the U.S. In fact, the joke is that it's called the 405 because traffic moves at "four or five" miles an hour.
3. Atlanta, Georgia I-285 at I-85 Interchange
   A combination of multi-leveled highways and small feeder roads causes a large congestion of traffic at almost all times of day on this interchange. Because of all of the bridges and suspended roads, this highway gets incredibly icy and dangerous during winter.
4. San Diego, California I-5
   This California highway is covered with many people under 21 crossing the border to Mexico and coming back. The San Diego I-5 leads directly into Tijuana, MX, and the lower drinking age in Mexico entices many young people to travel across the border for drinks. As a result, thousands of people are arrested in this area each year for driving while intoxicated.
5. Maine, U.S. Route 1
   In addition to having poor signage and being dangerous in winter, this U.S. highway also has a large wildlife population surrounding it (specifically moose). These combined with brutally cold and icy winters, and lots of rubbernecking sightseers in the spring results in a high level of accidents on this road.
6. New York I-95, Cross-Bronx Expressway
   New York's I-95 has terrible traffic; including lots of bottleneck traffic jams. The highway doesn't have many shoulders to pull over onto nor does it have great signage. Many accidents happen on this road, due to the potholes and poor conditions. Perhaps this is one reason many New Yorkers prefer public transportation.
7. Nevada I-15
   Nevada's I-15 is just a basic straightforward road— 125 miles with only a few curves. What makes this road dangerous is the number of speed demons it attracts. Many times roads that are plain cause drivers to get bored, drive faster, and lose control of their vehicles as a result of the high speeds.
8. Providence, Rhode Island, I-195
   Much like the other roads on this list, I-195 is built in a way that is conducive to traffic jams. In addition to sharp curves, throughout, this highway has short on-ramps, causing drivers to not have much time to prepare before entering the high speed of highway traffic.
9. Louisiana I-10
   Louisiana's land is soft and swampy. This is the reason that most graveyards include above ground tombs, rather than below ground burials with tombstones. Understandably ground that causes problems with burials also causes problems with construction. This soft land has caused multiple delays in the repairs since Hurricane Katrina, and I-10 is still littered with potholes and many other types of damage.
10. Chicago, Illinois, Circle Interchange
    The Circle Interchange in Chicago, IL is known for its traffic moving at an average speed of 11mph. Now, while it seems like a nice, safe speed, it's not necessarily. It actually causes problems for drivers since there are few lanes, the roads are winding and it has a large traffic volume.

If you've ever driven on these highways, we would love to hear tips for how you managed the drive! Did you drive it in a rental truck, or let someone else do the driving? One of the great values you'll find with MoveBuilder is a professional driver to do the driving for you. That means you get to make the trip in your own vehicle— no worries about things like road conditions and traffic in a big, unfamiliar truck!