Looking to live a long, healthy life? Then you had better avoid the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County at all costs.
New statistics show that the portion of the Beltway in Prince George's is by far the deadliest section of the roadway.
Forty-two people were killed in crashes between 2006 and 2008 between the Virginia border and the interchange where Interstate 95 splits off toward Baltimore. During the same period, 18 people died on the rest of the highway.
The numbers come from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
The deadly stretch accounts for less than a third of the Beltway's total mileage.
Long-term construction projects are likely a factor in the disparity in deaths. Speed could also be an issue. Lon Anderson, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, says the Prince George's section of the Beltway is where people drive the fastest. The Beltway's speed limit is 55 mph.
"I've heard from police that it's the fastest part of the Beltway," Anderson told the Washington Post. "On the rest of the Beltway, 60 or 65 [mph] is pretty common, but when you get over there, you can be going 70 and people pass you like you're standing still."
