A bridge in the Portland area has ranked eighth in a survey of the nation’s most
treacherous accident hotspots.
The study was released at the end of January by San Francisco-based non-profit Go Safe Labs. It revealed that the Glenn Jackson Bridge saw at least 124 accidents in 2019. This bridge on Interstate 205 crosses the Columbia River and connects east Portland and Vancouver.
Go Safe Labs said this makes the thoroughfare one of the most accident-prone areas in the United States.
The non-profit used data from Bing and Mapquest to analyze around 1.8 million accidents between 2018 and 2019. They then compared year-on-year figures to determine if there was a significant difference. Go Safe Labs then broke down the data into geographic areas to settle on the ten worst spots.
The I-205 bridge ranked just after New York City’s George Washington Bridge in New York City while a Greenville, South Carolina freeway exit ranked #1 with 404 accidents.
Go Safe Labs noted that while official government figures are preferred, the company used data from online service because it was more readily available.
The researchers noted that the data did not consider factors like traffic volume, city area, population or vehicle miles traveled. The severity of the accidents was also not taken into consideration.
The I-205 bridge is an important thoroughfare for many of the around 65,000 Washington residents who commute to Oregon for work.
Officials with the Oregon Department of Transportation have often considered the Rose Quarter area of Interstate 5 the most dangerous urban expressway in the Portland area. They say it is one of the country’s worst bottlenecks.
While the study did not consider what caused many of these accidents, more than a third of Oregon fatalities are alcohol-related. If you get charged with driving while under the influence of intoxicants, reach out to a Portland DUI lawyer.
Source: https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2020/01/a-portland-area-bridge-is-one-of-nations-worst-accident-hotspots-but-not-the-one-youd-think.html
