Washington’s deadliest routes: Road from Morton to Tacoma makes list

Washington State Route 99, a 49-mile highway from Fife to Everett and runs through the Seattle-Tacoma area, has been identified as the state's deadliest route.

A recent study conducted by Texas-based legal team The Barber Law Firm analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find the deadliest roadways in every state. Data was pulled from the NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System to find the average number of fatalities between 2018 and 2022.

Below are the five deadliest roads in Washington.

Deadliest roads in Washington

Here are Washington's deadliest roads and how many deaths per year it sees on average:

1. State Route 99 (16) — Also known as Pacific Highway
2. State Route 20 (9) — The North Cascades highway is 436 miles long and is the state's longest highway
3. State Route 7 (8.4) — Between Morton and Tacoma
4. State Route 167 (6.6) — 28-mile highway from Tacoma to Renton
5. State Route 14 (6.2) — Between Vancouver and Plymouth along the Columbia River

How deadly is State Route 99?

The study found that between 2018 and 2022, there were 76 car accidents and over 80 deaths recorded on State Route 99 in Washington, with 20 deaths occurring in 2022 alone.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation's crash data report, there have been four fatal car accidents and 23 suspected serious injury accidents on SR- 99 in 2024.

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