Cajon Pass named deadliest road in California
From freeways to its backroads California is known for its blue skies and asphalt. But with almost 400,000 miles of roadways, some of the roads have carried a dangerous reputation.
"It's quite scary, said driver Stefanie.
Stefanie is one of the terrified drivers who have to tackle the deadliest road in the state, the Cajon Pass every day.
"Honestly, it's the people who want to drive way too fast up and down the hill," said Stefanie.
Another driver agreed with Stefanie saying many drivers do not drive properly, especially around blind corners.
While the Cajon Pass is the deadliest road in all of California, it is only a 5-mile stretch of the I-15 passing through Hesperia.
"If you haven't driven the Cajon Pass before and you're going up to Las Vegas for the first time from Los Angeles its dangerous," said driver Jim Espinoza.
The new distinction comes from Monkeygeek.com which analyzed 10,470 fatal accidents in California to determine where and why people are dying.
"We love to help people be more safe on the roads," said Doug Milnes, the head of data and analytics at Monkeygeek.
Along with the Cajon Pass, four of the state's 10 deadliest roads are located in the Inland Empire.
"We cut up all the roads in the state to five-mile segments and found the five miles that were most deadliest," Milnes added.
The Cajon Pass had 19 deadly collisions between 2017 and 2019. Just a few miles away Bear Valley Road in Apple Valley came in ninth with 13 deadly collisions.
The 215 freeway from Colton to San Bernardino, State Route 74 in Menifee, Orange County's Highway 22 through Garden Grove and a part of the 605 Freeway in Los Angeles County between Norwalk and Cerritos cracked the top 10.
According to Monkeygeek, 12 people died in 11 accidents on the small stretch of the 605 Freeway.
"Actually a lot of the driver behaviors are related to these fatal accidents more than any given road," Milnes.
For example, driving under the influence was involved in 27% of all deadly crashes and another 28% involved speeding.
"The data indicates its more likely to be the driver than the road but the road has an impact," said Milnes. "A local community road at a slow speed is less likely to be fatal than a road that has seven lanes and people are going 75 mph."
He also said even distracted driving can have deadly consequences and was not only referring to cell phones.
"If you're looking in the back seat yelling at your kids you can go a really long distance before you recognize that you haven't actually been looking at the road," Milnes added.
Milnes added that one of the ways to change these statistics is for everyone to remember what they learned in driving school.
