US-93's Deadliest Truck Miles Are Two Lanes North of Wickenburg

The Finding

US-93 is the road between Phoenix and Las Vegas. From Wickenburg it runs about 200 miles northwest through Kingman to Hoover Dam and the Nevada line, and it carries a steady stream of semis the whole way.

Over the ten years from 2015 to 2024, 43 fatal crashes involving a large truck happened on US-93 in Arizona. They killed 63 people.

Most of the road is now a four-lane divided highway. The deadliest truck miles are the 21 that aren’t.

On the two-lane miles from the Santa Maria River to the State Route 71 junction, roughly 20 to 40 miles north of Wickenburg, 19 fatal truck crashes killed 25 people. That’s 40% of the road’s truck crash deaths on about 12% of its Arizona miles.

How I Counted

The crash records come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the federal census of every fatal crash on a US public road.

I pulled Arizona fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024 that involved a large truck, meaning a vehicle FARS codes as a medium or heavy truck. Then I kept the crashes police recorded on US-93.

I placed each crash on the highway by its recorded latitude and longitude, using the Arizona Department of Transportation’s own milepost markers. Every one landed within a quarter mile of the road. US-93 shares about 20 miles with I-40 at Kingman, and crashes there are counted in our I-40 truck crash investigation, not here.

Some stretches carry far more trucks than others, so I measured deaths against truck miles traveled. Those truck miles come from ADOT’s 2024 counts for the federal highway inventory, held constant for the whole decade. Traffic shifts over a decade, so treat each rate as an estimate and the comparison between stretches as the point.

The federal record covers fatal crashes only, and it says nothing about fault. ADOT’s own crash records also cover crashes where people were hurt but survived. I’ll add them to this piece when they come in.

Four Stretches, One Outlier

I split US-93 into four stretches. Measured against truck traffic, one stands far apart from the rest.

The two-lane stretch north of Wickenburg ran about 7.83 deaths per 100 million truck miles. US-93 as a whole ran about 2.70.

For comparison, the worst stretch we found on I-17, past Anthem, ran about 2.25. The worst on I-10, Benson to Willcox, ran about 1.89. The worst on I-40, the miles leading into Flagstaff, ran about 1.78.

Source: NHTSA FARS 2015-2024. ADOT HPMS 2024 truck AADT. Rates are estimates. Computed by AZ Law Now.

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The 70 miles from Hoover Dam to Kingman ran the second-highest rate, about 2.34. That’s also higher than the worst stretch of any of the three interstates.

Two Lanes, No Median, 65 MPH

ADOT has spent decades turning US-93 into a four-lane divided highway. The agency says fewer than 40 miles are still two lanes.

The longest of those runs from the Santa Maria River to State Route 71, mileposts 161 to 183. ADOT’s inventory shows one lane each way there, no median, and a 65 mph speed limit in both directions.

Trucks make up about 36% of the traffic on those miles, according to ADOT’s 2024 counts. They were involved in 19 of the stretch’s 36 fatal crashes of any kind.

Source: NHTSA FARS 2015-2024, located by coordinates on ADOT mileposts. Computed by AZ Law Now.

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Where Truck Crashes Turn Head-On

The crash record on this stretch looks different from anywhere else on the road. 15 of the 19 fatal truck crashes were head-on collisions or sideswipes between vehicles going opposite directions.

Across all of US-93, 13 fatal truck crashes were coded head-on. Nine of them happened on these 21 miles. The 70 divided miles from Hoover Dam to Kingman recorded none.

In 12 of the 19 crashes, police recorded the other vehicle crossing into the truck’s lane. In 4, the truck crossed. In 2, both vehicles did. With no median, there’s nothing between a drifting car and an oncoming semi but a painted line.

20 of the 25 people killed there weren’t in the truck. Another 25 people survived with injuries.

Rumble Strips, Then More Crashes

In July 2022, ADOT announced centerline rumble strips along about 20 miles of this stretch. The agency said the work was meant to cut lane-departure crashes on this two-lane piece of US-93.

The record since then is short, and it isn’t reassuring. The stretch has logged 4 more fatal truck crashes since mid-2022, 3 of them in 2024.

ADOT’s stated long-term plan is to make the whole route a four-lane divided highway. Its US-93 project list shows construction underway south of Kingman, but none on these 21 miles.

Crossing US-93 Between Hoover Dam and Kingman

The divided miles north of Kingman have a different problem. Side roads meet the highway at grade, and drivers have to cross 65 mph traffic to get on or off.

Twelve fatal truck crashes on this stretch were angle crashes at those crossings, and they killed 19 people. Eight of the 12 happened in the dark.

Eight of those crashes came at a short run of side-road crossings about 30 miles south of Hoover Dam. They killed 11 people, all from 2020 to 2023, and 7 happened after dark.

The Grand Canyon West Turnoff

Another three fatal truck crashes happened at Pierce Ferry Road, the turnoff to Grand Canyon West. They killed 7 people, in 2016, 2021, and 2023.

ADOT and Mohave County studied the intersection in 2020. Their report counted five fatal crashes of all kinds there from 2015 to 2019, every one an angle crash, mostly drivers turning left across northbound traffic.

The February 2021 report recommended a half interchange with a roundabout, at an estimated cost of about $11.3 million. ADOT’s US-93 project list doesn’t show it under construction. Two of the fatal truck crashes there came after the report was finished.

The Toll More Than Doubled

From 2015 to 2019, US-93 recorded 12 fatal truck crashes and 20 deaths. The next five years brought 31 crashes and 43 deaths. 2021 was the worst year, with 13.

Statewide, deaths in fatal large-truck crashes rose 66% over the same years. US-93 rose faster.

Trucks show up in fatal crashes on this road far more than their share of traffic would suggest. They were in 43 of US-93’s 129 fatal crashes, about 1 in 3, against about 1 in 9 statewide. ADOT’s counts put trucks at about 27% of US-93’s traffic.

Most of the Dead Weren’t in the Truck

Of the 63 people killed, 54 were outside the truck. Every one of them was driving or riding in a sedan, SUV, pickup, or minivan. Nine were riding in a large truck.

These crashes also left survivors. Another 48 people were hurt, 10 of them recorded with suspected serious injuries.

Most of the trucks came from somewhere else. 37 of the 53 large trucks in these crashes were registered outside Arizona, with Nevada leading at 7.

Few Roadside Inspections on the Road Itself

Federal inspection records show heavy enforcement at Kingman, where US-93 meets I-40. On US-93 itself, the record is thin.

Over the three years ending September 2026, inspectors logged 39 detailed roadside inspections at locations along US-93 outside Kingman and Wickenburg. That’s across roughly 180 miles of highway. The location field in these records is typed by hand, so some US-93 inspections may be filed under Kingman.

What This Means

On US-93, the people dying in truck crashes are mostly in the cars, SUVs, and pickups around the truck. Many of them are travelers between Phoenix and Las Vegas who don’t know the road narrows to two lanes north of Wickenburg.

A head-on crash with a semi doesn’t explain itself. The police report, the truck’s black-box data, the driver’s logs, and the carrier’s safety file each hold part of what happened, and fault isn’t always what the first report suggests.

If a commercial truck hit you or someone you love on US-93, talk to our truck crash lawyers before you talk to the trucking company’s insurer. We handle truck cases across Arizona from our Phoenix office, and the first conversation is free.

On US-93, the deadliest truck miles of the decade were the 21 where it’s still two lanes.

Related Coverage

For the legal and process context, see Ron DeBrigida’s guide to Arizona truck crash law and Stephanie Ramirez’s truck crash action plan.

Where US-93 meets I-40 at Kingman, see where I-40 truck crash deaths peak leading into Flagstaff. For the route from Phoenix to Flagstaff, see where I-17 truck crash deaths cluster past Anthem and Black Canyon City.

For southern Arizona, see how I-10 truck crash deaths rose 76%. From the Nogales border to Tucson, see why half of I-19’s truck crash deaths came in Green Valley and Sahuarita. And for the statewide picture, see our investigation of the Arizona truck death surge.