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Highway 99: No.1 for deaths in the USA
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Want to take your life into your own hands?
Then drive the 120 Bypass eastbound and Highway 99 on a daily basis.
The 2-mile segment of the 120 Bypass from Union Road to the Highway 99 interchange is the deadliest stretch of freeway in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. There have been 1,261 collisions resulting in 11 deaths and 815 injuries during the past seven years.
But when it comes to lethal freeways Highway 99 apparently is the undisputed champ.
Last year the New York-based consumer research firm of ValuePenguin analyzed data from the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration. The firm concluded Highway 99 from Bakersfield to Redding is the deadliest major highway in the country.
The 400-mile long freeway had 264 fatal accidents from 2011 to 2015 for 62 fatal accidents per 100 miles over a five year period. That was way ahead of Interstate 45 in Texas that had 55 fatalities per 100 miles of freeway.
Now are you ready for the shocker? The deadliest stretch of Highway 99 is in the Modesto area with 35 fatalities recorded over the five-year period.
The just completed widening of Highway 99 between the Crosstown Freeway in Stockton and the 120 Bypass in Manteca paid for with Proposition 1B bond money and Measure K sales tax receipts replaced 1955-era bridges and narrow travel lanes that had equally narrow shoulders.
The Proposition 1B bonds are being used to eliminate similar issues elsewhere along Highway 99 centered around narrow shoulders, tight ramps, and inadequate interchanges.
Given the high frequency of accidents in the region you might want to do yourself a favor and stash the smartphone, slow down, and back off.