Thousands of crashes sweep across the Valley every week, and patterns in police reports and legal casework are converging on the same handful of intersections in Phoenix. Attorneys who handle injury and liability claims say the repeat appearances of these locations in crash statistics are not random; they reflect predictable conditions that make certain junctions especially hazardous.
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"Intersections are one of the most dangerous places on any roadway," said Joel Fugate of the Phillips Law Group, who has handled multiple cases at several of the spots now flagged as trouble. He pointed to the collision of decision points—drivers accelerating, braking, turning, watching signals and reacting to pedestrians and other vehicles—all concentrated in one location as a primary reason crashes cluster at intersections.
Two cars collide at a rain‑slicked intersection with police lights flashing — a visual example of the severe crashes highlighted among Phoenix’s most dangerous intersections.
Phoenix’s broad, car‑oriented grid magnifies those risks, attorneys say. Long, wide streets designed to move high volumes of vehicles invite higher speeds and often include multiple turn lanes that add complexity to motorists’ decisions. Those features, combined with congestion and hurried choices by drivers trying to keep time on their side, repeatedly show up in crash narratives.
Among the intersections that consistently stand out in regional crash tallies are 27th Avenue and Camelback Road, 67th Avenue and Indian School Road, 19th Avenue and Peoria Avenue, 67th Avenue and McDowell Road, and Lower Buckeye Road at 99th Avenue. Each location draws a specific mix of hazards, from school‑zone pedestrian activity and red‑light running to heavy truck traffic and frequent T‑bone collisions.
At 27th Avenue and Camelback Road, the pattern described to attorneys centers on distracted drivers and failure‑to‑yield incidents amid nearly nonstop traffic. Near 67th Avenue and Indian School Road, the combination of red‑light running and elevated pedestrian activity—especially at or near school times—keeps the intersection on lists of concern. On 19th Avenue at Peoria Avenue, multiple turning lanes prompt last‑second lane changes and sideswipes as drivers attempt to position themselves for turns in heavy flow. 67th and McDowell is repeatedly associated with high‑severity T‑bone crashes, often tied to motorists attempting to "beat the light," Fugate said. Lower Buckeye and 99th Avenue is notable both for the mix of commercial truck traffic and regular commuter flow; "There have been over 400 collisions there in four years," he said. "That’s like two accidents a week at the same intersection."
One recurring cause Fugate described in detail is the familiar left turn at a Phoenix signal. A driver pulls into the intersection on green, searches for a gap in oncoming traffic and commits when it appears safe—sometimes misjudging the behavior of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction. "People commit to the intersection and assume everyone else is going to do the right thing," he said. "They see the light turning yellow and think oncoming traffic will stop. But if someone coming through is trying to beat the light, you’ve got a collision. Then you get into fights about who ran the red, who failed to yield, and who’s more at fault. If these things were black and white, I wouldn’t have a job."
Arizona’s comparative fault system, Fugate noted, complicates litigation and claims because fault can be divided among parties even when one driver bears the majority of responsibility. "You can be 99% at fault and still recover 1% of your damages," he said. "It’s fair, but it means every detail matters." That allocation of responsibility places a premium on preserving evidence at the scene and documenting injuries and damage promptly, he added.
Distraction, he said bluntly, is an epidemic on Valley roads. "It is amazing to me driving around Arizona," Fugate said. "You just see people staring down at their phones. That is the cause of an outrageous number of accidents. People die because someone is trying to respond to a text that says, ‘What’s up?’ It’s terrible." Beyond distraction, rushed decisions, congested road geometries, and the presence of large commercial vehicles in some corridors all contribute to the steady recurrence of certain intersections in crash data.
When collisions occur, Fugate urged a consistent set of immediate steps: call the police, document the scene, photograph vehicles and injuries, collect witness names before they depart, and seek medical care without delay. "Adrenaline masks pain," he said. "Most clients tell me they feel the worst two days after. Something that seems minor can turn serious quickly." He also cautioned against early conversations with the other driver’s insurer, recounting a common post‑crash pitch: "They’ll call the next day and sound friendly. They’ll say, ‘We’ll cover up to $10,000 in medical bills, just sign this.’ People sign it, then find out they need surgery. And the insurance company says, ‘Sorry, we capped it at $10,000.’ They are not your friends."
Local governments, too, can become part of the legal picture when an intersection has a documented history of crashes. Fugate said municipalities investigate and implement changes, but when official studies identify specific intersections as particularly dangerous, that recognition can be part of a claim that the location required additional safety measures. "They’re constantly trying to fix these things," he said. "But when their own studies say, ‘These are the most dangerous intersections,’ they’re basically acknowledging something needs to change."
Despite the complex mix of engineering, enforcement and legal issues that surround the Valley’s worst intersections, Fugate emphasized a pragmatic approach for drivers: assume others may make mistakes and drive defensively. "Coming up on any green light, treat it like someone might run the red going the other way," he said. "Look. Pay attention. Don’t zombie out. Don’t be on your phone. Defensive driving isn’t just something they tell teenagers. It’s the truth." He summarized the dynamic at the heart of intersection risk in simple terms: "At an intersection, every single person is making a decision at the same time. If even one of them makes the wrong one, everybody pays for it."
Recent ADOT data cited in local reports ranks 67th Avenue and Indian School Road atop Arizona's crash lists with over 260 incidents, followed by 67th Avenue and McDowell Road with more than 220. Phoenix is advancing its Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan with signal upgrades, protected left-turn arrows, better crosswalks and targeted enforcement at these high-risk sites, according to coverage from YourValley.net and AZ Big Media.
The City of Phoenix formally adopted its Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan on September 7, 2022, and the City Council allocated $10 million per year to implement it, funded by a mix of $3 million from the General Fund, $2 million from Transportation 2050 resources, and $5 million from the Highway User Revenue Fund.
The Maricopa Association of Governments’ Top 100 crash‑risk analysis (2018–2022) places 67th Avenue and McDowell Road as the highest‑risk intersection in the metro area, and shows 99th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road had the largest raw crash total in that five‑year span with 429 reported collisions.
Recent statewide and local counts underscore the human cost: Arizona recorded 263 pedestrian deaths in 2024, and Phoenix suffered 109 pedestrian fatalities in 2023, leaving the city among the highest U.S. cities by raw pedestrian deaths.
Phoenix has used federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) funding and city procurement to develop supplements to the RSAP — including a Pedestrian High‑Risk Network and a Speed Limit Setting Study — to guide where and how the city targets engineering and speed‑management countermeasures.