12 Missouri Roads With a Troubling Crash History

If there's a road or highway in Missouri, I've driven it at some point in my life. I can testify that there are some that are worse than others and new data reveals the terrible 12 which all have a troubling crash history.

There are a lot of ways to determine if a Missouri road, highway or interstate is dangerous. You can look at accident reports, fatality rates and insurance claims, but you really need to consider reviews of travelers. With all of those driving metrics crunched into one ranking, here are the terrible 12 among all of the Missouri roads.

The Missouri roads that give me trepidation are the two-lane rural roads with blind hills. All it takes is one reckless driver trying to pass where they shouldn't to have a tragedy. I remember my parents telling the story of how they had to drive off onto the shoulder to avoid a head-on collision on US 36 in north-central Missouri. I was that close to becoming an orphan. Sadly, other families don't have happy endings to their stories. I've had some close calls on US-63 when I used to have to drive to Columbia regularly. That was back in the days when more of that highway was two-lane before it was expanded.

Missouri's geography is partly to blame for the large number of dangerous roads. The rustic southern part of the state that's very popular with tourists, the many river roads that don't have a lot of room for error and the heavily-traveled interstates through metro areas all contribute to Missouri being one of the most perilous places to be behind the wheel.