A report from the nonprofit Go Safe Labs has ranked the top 10 worst cities for auto accidents. Researchers based their list on accident numbers in 2019, a year in which 953,630 car crashes took place. Oklahoma residents may be displeased to hear that Oklahoma City ranked seventh with 12,476 crashes occurring there in 2019.
At the top of the list was Houston with 22,188 accidents. This was followed by Charlotte, North Carolina, with 21,818, Los Angeles with 19,660 and two more cities in Texas: Austin with 16,635 and Dallas with 14,685. Raleigh was number six with 12,846 accidents, yet this was still 25.5% less than the city’s crash number in 2018. The list ended with Baton Rouge, Nashville and Phoenix.
Raleigh was not the only state that saw a decrease in 2019. Nashville, Charlotte and Houston experienced declines of 15.4%, 13.3% and 12.1%, respectively. Moreover, none of these 10 cities contained any of the “hotspots” in the second list of areas with the most accidents.
Researchers found that the most accident-prone region in the country is an exist just off Interstate 85 in Greenville, South Carolina. Called the Pelham Road Exit, it was the setting for 404 accidents in 2019. Two other locations in Greenville made the top 10 in addition to three regions in or around New York City and others in Portland, Miami and Minneapolis.
Many car accidents form the basis for personal injury claims. With Oklahoma being an at-fault state, there are no limitations as to who can file such claims. The state’s negligence law, however, bars a plaintiff from recovering damages if he or she is deemed to be more at fault than the defendant. In addition, those with a valid claim might find it hard to argue for a fair amount in damages, so it may be wise to retain legal representation.