Phoenix Most Dangerous Intersections and Roads for Cyclists Are Unranked Citywide

Phoenix maintains two rankings of its most dangerous intersections, and they barely agree. The citywide ranking, the 2024 High Injury Network, counts collisions involving anyone on the street. The bicycle ranking, which Phoenix released in March 2026, scores each crossing mainly on accidents that injured riders. You cannot plan a bicycle route from the citywide ranking, because fifteen of the twenty-one worst crossings for riders are not on it. Bicycle Accident Lawyers Group built this page from Phoenix’s own bicycle-specific crash data.

Key Takeaways

• Phoenix ranks 21 dangerous intersections as most hazardous for bicyclists, and 15 are missing from its citywide High Injury Network.
• Four out of five intersection accidents involving Phoenix bicyclists happened at or near a crossing in 2021, and half happened where no traffic signals or signs controlled the intersection in 2024.
• Major streets carry 77 percent of Phoenix bicycle crashes at certain intersections, so ride a parallel neighborhood street.
• Arizona’s comparative fault law reduces what you recover by your share of the blame rather than ending your personal injury case.
• You have two years to sue after an accident and 180 days to file a personal injury claim against a government body.

How Many Phoenix Crashes Involve a Bicycle

Phoenix recorded 304 bicycle accidents in 2024, out of 23,676 traffic crashes citywide. Those accidents caused 290 injuries and 15 fatalities, and the bicycle accident count has climbed every year in the five-year series below except one.

The Most Dangerous Intersections in Phoenix for Every Road User

99th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road had more intersection crashes than any other crossing in Phoenix in 2022, with 94 within 150 feet of the corner, according to Phoenix’s 2022 traffic collision summary. The data from that ranking counts drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists together, so it cannot identify which dangerous intersection poses the highest crash risk for riders. The city marks seven of its eleven risk intersections for safety or engineering work:

The Intersections Phoenix Ranks as Most Dangerous for Bicyclists

Fifteen of the twenty-one intersections Phoenix ranks as most hazardous for bicyclists are missing from the 2024 citywide High Injury Network. Only six appear in both rankings, as Table 6 of Phoenix’s March 2026 study shows, and you can check the citywide network street by street on Phoenix’s interactive map.

Phoenix’s yearly crash data names the busiest bicycle intersections by intersection crashes within 150 feet. A single accident can shift these rankings year to year, so plan your route around the eight-year high-injury network rather than these yearly leaders:

The Most Dangerous Roads in Phoenix

Indian School Road had more crashes between intersections than any other Phoenix road in 2022, with 342, according to the same 2022 traffic collision summary. High driving speeds and traffic congestion along this corridor contribute to crash frequency on the road:

Phoenix’s March 2026 bicycle and pedestrian safety study adds 26 corridors it ranks as most dangerous for bicyclists. Major streets, the wide roads a mile apart such as 7th Avenue, 16th Street and Camelback, carry high traffic volume and congestion and are involved in 77 percent of Phoenix bicycle crashes at intersections. 

Dangerous intersections especially along busy corridors account for the highest crash frequency. Intersections where two neighborhood streets meet produced just 6 percent, so ride a parallel neighborhood street wherever one runs beside a major street.

What Makes a Phoenix Intersection Dangerous for Drivers and Riders?

Four out of five Phoenix bicycle crashes happen at or within 150 feet of an intersection, according to Phoenix’s 2021 bicycle crash summary. Phoenix’s March 2026 bicycle and pedestrian safety study ranks intersections on factors such as street design and use rather than traffic volume alone. 

By its count, major streets carry about six times the average street’s crash risk of an accident that kills or seriously injures bicyclists. Five factors make dangerous intersections harder for drivers to navigate, from driving speed and congestion to poor visibility, and each one raises the severity of the resulting crash type:

1. Lane count and approach speed compound each other. When these factors combine and multiple vehicles enter from several lanes at high speed, the risk of a t-bone or side-impact crash rises sharply, especially where congestion leads to sudden stops and lane changes. A motorist crossing six lanes at 45 miles an hour has far less time to spot a rider in the crosswalk than one on a two-lane street at 25.
2. Turning traffic adds a second decision, and left turn and right turn maneuvers are the leading crash type at these crossings. Drivers were turning in 136 of the 284 bicycle accidents in the 2021 summary, nearly half of them. Side-impact and t-bone collisions from left turns are the most severe crash type at these locations, often causing catastrophic injury.
3. A right-turn slip lane lets drivers merge without stopping. It leaves them watching the vehicles ahead instead of the pedestrian crossing it, and rolling stops at these turns increase the risk of a side-impact accident, a crash type that often catches riders from behind.
4. Half the crashes happen where nothing controls the crossing. Phoenix’s 2024 traffic collision summary puts 51 percent of bicycle crashes where no signal or sign controls traffic. Red light running and other traffic violations at certain intersections compound the problem. Where there are no stops or controlled turns, the whole decision to yield falls on drivers, and speeding and distracted driving raise crash risk at these locations.
5. Darkness multiplies the danger for all vehicles on the road. Dawn, dusk or dark conditions, which reduce visibility for drivers, were present in 31 percent of Phoenix bicycle collisions in 2021 but in 56 percent of the fatal ones, according to the 2021 summary. Distracted driving is a greater risk factor after dark, and the combination of speed, poor visibility, and heavy commuter traffic makes these crash-prone corridors especially deadly for all road users.

What to Do After a Bicycle Accident at One of These Crossings

A police report alone does not settle fault after a car accident or bicycle accident at the scene. It records what the officer concluded that day, often from the motorist’s account alone if you were too injured to give yours. Challenging it takes evidence the initial report does not always contain:

Phoenix’s 2021 bicycle crash summary codes 43 percent of bicycle accidents as caused by the bicyclist alone, a departmental coding rather than a court finding. Whether from a bicycle crash or a car accident, a crossing already on Phoenix’s danger ranking gives you a public record to counter an assessment that assigns liability to you. Protect your health and your recovery:

1. Call 911 and ask for the report number.
2. Get medical care, even for injuries that feel minor, and keep all records and medical bills. The same summary puts the chance of leaving a bicycle accident uninjured at less than one percent, and what starts as a minor complaint can become catastrophic injury costs.
3. Photograph the vehicles at the scene, the crossing and your injuries before conditions change.
4. Keep the bicycle, helmet and clothing as they are. The damage shows where and how hard you were hit.
5. Get the number and description of the vehicle if the motorist fled. Phoenix logged 57 bicycle hit-and-runs in 2024, according to Phoenix’s 2024 traffic collision summary.
6. Talk to a personal injury lawyer before you give an insurance company a recorded statement. Insurance companies work to minimize what they pay, and a personal injury lawyer with experience in intersection accidents can protect your recovery.

Who Pays When You Are Partly at Fault

Arizona’s comparative fault law reduces what you recover by your share of the blame instead of ending your personal injury case. If a jury or an insurance company determines liability and puts 20 percent of the fault on you, you still recover 80 percent of your damages, including all medical bills lost to the crash, unpaid wages, and other losses.

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Arizona?

Arizona’s personal injury law gives you two years to file a lawsuit after a bicycle accident. A case against a government body over a road defect or missing traffic signal runs on two shorter clocks with the same start date:

The written notice comes first. The government body has 60 days to answer it, with silence counting as a denial, but the one-year clock keeps running the whole time. Arizona’s government-claims law starts both clocks once you realize you were harmed and know, or reasonably should know, what caused it, which can be well after the crash itself.

Talk to a Bicycle Accident Lawyer

If a driver hit you at one of the intersections or roads named on this page, or anywhere else in Phoenix, Robert Goldwater can review your case. He is the firm’s lead attorney and handles bicycle accident cases only. Arizona law gives you two years to sue the driver, and that clock is already running, so do not wait to call.

This is general information, not legal advice, and you should consult a licensed attorney in Arizona about your own case.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Bicycle Accident Lawyers Group handles bicycle accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless the firm recovers compensation for you.

Arizona Laws Cited on This Page

Every legal rule above comes from one of these, linked to the state’s own text so you can read it yourself.

• A.R.S. 12-2505 — Comparative fault, which reduces what you recover by your share of the blame instead of barring recovery
• A.R.S. 12-542 — Two years to sue for a personal injury
• A.R.S. 12-821.01 — 180 days to file a claim against a government body, counted from when the claim accrues
• A.R.S. 12-821 — One year to sue a government body

Posted by Robert Goldwater

Robert Goldwater is a cyclist representing cyclists. He has practiced personal injury and wrongful death law for more than 20 years, graduating with Honors from Arizona State University Law School, and has helped recover over $1 billion for clients, including injured cyclists.

All articles by Robert Goldwater