Deadliest Rush Hours In U.S.: Sadly Las Vegas In Top 5

Las Vegas rush hour one of the top 5 deadliest rush hours in the U.S. Time lapse photo taken during evening rush hour in a big city. Overhead view of a free way interchange shows vehicle headlights and taillights as long streams of white, blue, red, and violet streams of light. The city lights of building can be seen in the background as the sun sets on the horizon.

Time lapse photography during evening rush hour in a big city. Headlights and taillights of vehicles look like strings of light on the freeways.

Kitti Suwaneakkasit via Getty Images

It’s scary but true, Las Vegas is home to one of the top five deadliest rush hours in America. However, that ranking is not based on total number of fatal accidents during rush hour. Instead, it’s based on the percentage of fatal accidents during rush hours as compared to the total number of deadly accidents.

The Deadliest Rush Hours In America: Las Vegas In The Top 5

New research provided by the legal team at The Barber Law Firm shows that nearly 30% of the fatal traffic accidents in Las Vegas occurred during rush hour. The data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) covering the years from 2018 to 2022.

Sadly, there were 202 traffic fatalities during those years here in Southern Nevada. Specifically, 59 of those occurred during rush hour. Although you may drive to or from work during different hours, The Barber Law Firm study considers morning rush hour from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and evening rush hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Although Las Vegas ranks fifth in the nation for deadliest rush hours, Winston-Salem, North Carolina takes the dubious top spot in this research study. In fact, 30.51% of their fatal accidents happened during morning and evening rush hours.

Rounding out the top five major U.S. cities with the deadliest rush hours are Phoenix in second (29.91%). Kansas City, Kansas in third (29.70%), Mobile, Alabama in fourth place (29.37%), and Las Vegas in fifth (29.21%).

It’s shocking to note that the city in sixth place has a tremendously high number of traffic accidents. According to this study, Tucson, Arizona had a total of 521 fatal accidents between 2018 and 2022. Furthermore, 152 of those happened during morning and evening rush hours. That is one dangerous city in which to drive at any time of the day or night.

The Safest Rush Hours In America

If you’re driving during rush hour in Cleveland, Ohio, you’re operating your vehicle on some of the safest roads. Although there were 269 total traffic fatalities between 2018 and 2022 in that city, only 38 occurred during rush hour (14.13%).

Other cities determined to have relatively safe rush hour traffic include Amarillo, Texas in second (14.95%), Orlando, Florida in third (14.98%), Arlington, Texas ranking fourth (15.43%), and Santa Ana, California in fifth place (15.53%).

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Larry Martino is the long-time afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC. Follow us: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Driving Las Vegas Traffic

Larry MartinoEditor

Larry Martino has been the afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ since 2007. He is also Music Director and Assistant Program Director. He’s been a professional radio broadcaster since 1980, serving as on-air talent, Program Director, and Music Director during his career. As a content creator for 96.3 KKLZ, Larry specializes in writing articles about music, recording artists, movies, food/restaurants, and hockey.