Oklahoma isn’t known for having the best driving standards in the nation. The state consistently ranks high when it comes to the nation’s car accident rates and how many broken bridges and roads there are.
While each county of the state has their fair share of driving issues, some areas are more problematic than others. Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office published a report that highlights which counties had the highest crash and fatality rates. These statistics can help give you a sense of where the most hazardous parts of the state to drive through are and what precautions you should take.
The big cities
Nearly half of the total crashes occurred in Oklahoma and Tulsa, the two largest counties in the state. With so many drivers in these areas, it doesn’t come as a shock even if they have better roads and more signs than the rural parts of the state. Timing arguably plays one of the largest factors here than anywhere else. Remain alert during your morning and evening commutes to work and pay attention to any special events the cities are hosting to avoid potentially dangerous traffic.
The border state counties
Most of the counties on the right side of the state that border Arkansas and Texas such as McCurtain and LeFlore had particularly high fatality and injury rates. Chances are, most of the drivers you’ll encounter here are going to one of the neighboring states. This means they may have already been on the road for hours driving through Oklahoma just to get to a different part of the country. Keep an eye out for any signs of drowsy driving such as struggling to stay in a straight line and inconsistent speeds.
Rural counties that are next to big city counties
Rogers and Lincoln county don’t have too many large cities or populations within them, but they have high crash rates from being neighbors next to some of the most popular parts of the state. This means you will see more drivers than you typically do in other rural parts of Oklahoma. Some might take advantage of the transition between rush hour traffic to open roads a bit too far. These are also locations where you especially have to watch out for potential drunk drivers at night that are heading home from the cities.
Before driving through any of these dangerous Oklahoma counties, it is important you know what legal assistance you could contact in case a major accident happens on the road. All it takes is one crash to severely damage your body and your insurance.