[Study] The Most Dangerous Intersections in Washington

Colburn Law

Posted in Car Accidents on December 5, 2022

Every day, hundreds of people are involved in motor vehicle collisions throughout the state of Washington.  Nearly half of these collisions occur at or are related to an intersection.

At Colburn Law, we are acutely aware of the devastating toll that car accident injuries can take on victims and their families.  For this reason, we set out to identify the most dangerous intersections in Washington and provide motorists with valuable information to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

We worked with data visualization agency 1Point21 Interactive to analyze five years of Washington collision data, from 2017 – 2021. We identified 50 intersections where both a high volume of collisions and injuries occurred during those years.

Below, we list the most dangerous intersections in Washington.

[Interactive Map] Crashes at Intersections in Washington; 2017-2021

The map below is interactive.  Use the mouse wheel or touch gestures to explore, zoom, and hover to reveal more information.  Circles in blue indicate one of the 50 most dangerous intersections in Washington, while the gold dots indicate other intersections where collisions have occurred.

*If viewing on a mobile device, rotate to landscape for the best viewing experience. 

What makes an intersection dangerous?  A high volume of collisions and injuries.

Over 70,000 unique intersections saw at least one crash during the study period, with an average of 2.5 crashes each.   Intersections among our 50 most dangerous, on the other hand, averaged 78.24 crashes each.

While it is true that many of the crossings on the list below are high-traffic volume intersections, we believe that volume contributes to the danger.  It means that it is more likely that someone will be involved in a collision there.

Table: The 50 Most Dangerous Intersections in Washington

Rank	Street 1	Street 2	City	Crashes	Minor Injury	Severe Injury	Fatal
1	116th Ave SE	SE Kent Kangley Rd	Kent	122	47	6	0
2	108th Ave SE	208th St SE	Kent	138	32	1	1
3	112th SW	Evergreen Way	Everett	92	33	3	0
4	84th Ave S	S 212th St	Kent	101	29	1	0
5	39th Ave SW	9th St SW	Puyallup	78	33	3	0
6	6th Ave	James St	Seattle	81	34	1	0
7	104th Ave SE	SE 240th St	Kent	111	24	1	0
8	W Meeker St	Washington Ave	Kent	82	26	0	2
9	4th St	State Ave	Marysville	88	29	1	0
10	Auburn Way N	S 277th St	Auburn	88	28	1	0
11	Pacific Highway	S 312th St	Federal Way	69	31	2	0
12	1st Ave S	S 320th St	Federal Way	67	35	0	0
13	Greene St	Mission Ave	Spokane	72	30	1	0
14	Pacific Highway	S 272nd St	Kent	91	25	0	0
15	Martin Way	Marvin Rd	Lacey	100	22	0	0
16	132 Ave SE	Kent Kangley Rd	Kent	80	25	2	0
17	College St	Martin Way	Lacey	82	26	1	0
18	116th Ave SE	SE 240 St	Kent	68	32	0	0
19	International Blvd	S 188th St	SeaTac	91	17	4	0
20	104th Ave SE	SE 256th St	Kent	92	20	2	0
21	S 96th St	Steele St	Tacoma	71	18	5	1
22	College St	Lacey Blvd	Lacey	73	27	1	0
23	172nd NE	Smokey Point Blvd	Arlington	102	19	0	0
24	Britton Parkway	Marvin Rd	Lacey	130	7	1	0
25	68th Ave S	S 212th St	Kent	81	21	2	0
26	Casino Rd	Evergreen Way	Everett	78	25	0	0
27	Kent Des Moines Rd	Pacific Highway	Des Moines	82	21	1	0
28	128th St SW	4th Ave W	Lake Stickney	98	17	0	0
29	Military Rd	S 133rd St	SeaTac	62	27	1	0
30	176th St E	Canyon Rd	Frederickson	68	23	2	0
31	Flint Rd	W Airport Dr	Spokane	53	31	0	0
32	Pacific Highway	S 320th St	Federal Way	65	25	1	0
33	S 16th Ave	W Nob Hill Blvd	Yakima	65	25	1	0
34	Pacific Highway	S 356th St	Federal Way	79	22	0	0
35	E Mall Dr	Everett Mall Way	Everett	60	24	2	0
36	88th St NE	State Ave	Marysville	77	20	1	0
37	Airport Rd	Evergreen Way	Everett	63	16	2	2
38	164th St SW	36th Ave W	North Lynnwood	62	23	2	0
39	Pacific Highway	S 240th St	Kent	67	17	2	1
40	Canal Dr	Columbia Center Blvd	Kennewick	76	19	0	0
41	Southcenter Pkwy	Strander Blvd	Tukwila	80	17	0	0
42	E 72nd St	McKinley Ave	Tacoma	53	19	4	0
43	Ash St	Wellesley Ave	Spokane	51	23	2	0
44	Benson Rd/Talbot Rd	S 15th St/Puget Dr	Renton	53	24	1	0
45	Interurban Ave/W Valley Highway	Grady Wy/Southcenter Blvd	Tukwila	64	22	0	0
46	S 11th St	Sprague Ave	Tacoma	70	20	0	0
47	S 272nd St	Star Lake Rd	Kent	60	23	0	0
48	172nd Ave SE	SE 272 St	Covington	52	25	0	0
49	S 56th St	Alaska St	Tacoma	55	24	0	0
50	Pacific Ave	S 72nd St	Tacoma	69	14	3	0

 

The Top Five Intersections

Three of the five most dangerous intersections (and five of the top ten) were found in Kent. Below is a closer look at them and the rest of the top five.

 

Number 1:  116th SE and SE Kent Kangley Rd

• City: Kent
• 122 Crashes
• 53 Total Injury Crashes
• 6 Severe Injury Crashes

The most dangerous intersection in Washington can be found at 116th Avenue and Kent Kangley Road in Kent.  Site of the second most intersection-related collisions, it had the most total injury crashes and the most serious injury crashes.

 

Number 2:  108th Ave SE and 208th St SE

• City: Kent
• 138 Crashes
• 33 Total Injury Crashes
• 1 Severe Injury Crashes
• 1 Death

With 138 crashes, this crossing had the most collisions of any intersection in Washington.  While fatalities are relatively rare at intersection-related collisions overall, 108th and 208th was the only one in the top five to see a fatal crash (among only five intersections in the top 50).

 

Number 3:  112th SW and Evergreen Way

• City: Everett
• 92 Crashes
• 36 Total Injury Crashes
• 3 Severe Injury Crashes

Number three on the list can be found in Everett at 112th SW and Evergreen Way.  This crossing was home to the third most collisions that resulted in severe injuries and second most that caused any kind of injury.

Number 4:  84th Ave S and S 212th St

• City: Kent
• 101 Crashes
• 30 Total Injury Crashes
• 1 Severe Injury Crash

The third intersection in the top five to be found in Kent, 84th Avenue S and S 212th Street was the site of just over 100 collisions, 20 of which caused injuries.

 

Number 5:  39th Ave SW and 9th St SW

• City:  Puyallup
• 78 Crashes
• 38 Total Injury Crashes
• 3 Severe Injury Crashes

Despite a lower crash volume than the rest of the top five, crashes that did occur this intersection in Puyallup were much more likely to cause injuries.  In fact, nearly half (46 percent) of collisions here resulted in some sort of injury, the highest rate of any intersection in the top five.

Data Sources and Fair Use

Data for this study was sourced from the Washington State Patrol for the years 2017 – 2021.  We hope that readers can use this information to inform their driving habits, the routes they take, and keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

If you would like to report on or republish any of the information, data, or media contained in this report, please provide attribution by linking to this study page.