Metro Phoenix's Most Dangerous Intersections — 2026 Update
The Valley's highest-risk intersections according to MAG's official crash-risk ranking, paired with ADOT's most recent statewide and Maricopa County figures. Every number is sourced. Updated August 2026.
What this page is
The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) publishes the region's official intersection crash-risk ranking. The most recent list uses 2018–2022 crash data and scores each intersection on crash frequency (25%), crash severity (50%), and crash type (25%). This page reproduces the top of that ranking and pairs it with the Arizona Department of Transportation's most recent annual figures, so the numbers people search for are in one place with their sources attached.
A note on what "dangerous" means here: MAG's score weights severity more than frequency. The #1 intersection is not the one with the most crashes — it is the one where crashes are most likely to be serious.
MAG's highest crash-risk intersections (2018–2022 data)
| Rank | Intersection | City | Reported crashes (5 yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67th Avenue & McDowell Road | Phoenix | 229 |
| 2 | 51st Avenue & Camelback Road | Glendale | 174 |
| 3 | 19th Avenue & Peoria Avenue | Phoenix | 105 |
| 4 | 67th Avenue & Thomas Road | Phoenix | 128 |
| 5 | 67th Avenue & Indian School Road | Phoenix | 256 |
| 6 | 83rd Avenue & Indian School Road | Phoenix | 187 |
| 7 | Cave Creek Road & Sweetwater Avenue | Phoenix | 46 |
| 8 | 51st Avenue & Thomas Road | Phoenix | — |
| 9 | 27th Avenue & Camelback Road | Phoenix | — |
| 10 | 99th Avenue & Lower Buckeye Road | Phoenix | — |
Source: MAG, "List of Top 100 Intersections Ranked by Crash Risk (2018–2022)." Crash counts shown where MAG lists them in the published table; a dash means the count is not reproduced here.
Three patterns stand out in the full list:
- Phoenix holds nine of the top ten and eighteen of the top twenty.
- West-side arterials dominate: 67th Avenue appears three times in the top five, and Indian School Road and McDowell Road each appear repeatedly across the top 100.
- Cave Creek Road & Sweetwater Avenue ranks seventh with only 46 crashes because its severity score is the highest in the region — an example of the ranking rewarding severity over volume.
Arizona statewide, 2024 (ADOT)
| Measure | 2024 | Change vs. 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Total crashes | 121,107 | −1.74% |
| Fatalities | 1,228 | −6.12% (second straight annual decline) |
| Injuries | 54,426 | −1.06% |
| Alcohol-related fatalities | 347 | −3.07% |
| Speed-related fatalities | 417 | — |
| Motorcycle fatalities | 219 | −16.4% |
| Pedestrian fatalities | 263 | — |
| Pedestrian crashes | 2,079 | five-year high |
Source: ADOT, "2024 Motor Vehicle Crash Facts for the State of Arizona" (published July 2025) and ADOT news release of July 9, 2025. As of August 2026, ADOT has not published a 2025 annual report; 2024 remains the most current official dataset.
Maricopa County, 2024 (ADOT)
- 88,094 crashes — 72.7% of the statewide total
- 594 fatalities — 50.1% of statewide deaths
- 37,649 injuries
Why the intersection list and the statewide numbers point the same direction
MAG's ranking is a five-year window ending in 2022; ADOT's figures are for 2024. Together they show a region where total crashes and deaths have edged down two years running while pedestrian crashes reached a five-year high, and where risk concentrates on a small set of wide west-side arterials rather than spreading evenly across the metro. That concentration is why the same handful of intersections appear year after year in every published ranking.
Methodology and limits
- MAG's list is the only official regional intersection ranking. It is published on a multi-year cycle; the 2018–2022 list is the latest as of this update.
- Intersection crash counts are MAG's geolocated totals, which consolidate crashes reported by different agencies at the same location.
- This page does not rank intersections by any method of its own. An original analysis of 2023–2024 intersection-level ADOT crash records is in preparation and will be published here when complete.
- Statewide and county figures are reproduced as published by ADOT; no estimates or projections are added.
Sources
- MAG, List of Top 100 Intersections Ranked by Crash Risk (2018–2022): https://azmag.gov/Portals/0/Documents/List-Top-100-Intersections-Ranked-by-Crash-Risk-MAG-2018-2022.pdf
- ADOT, 2024 Motor Vehicle Crash Facts for the State of Arizona: https://azdot.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2024-Crash-Facts.pdf
- ADOT news release, July 9, 2025: https://azdot.gov/news/traffic-fatalities-arizona-dip-second-year-row