Much maligned for its crazy drivers and near daily crashes, State Route 347 just went semi-national in a traffic fatality analysis, listing two of the highway’s intersections as the top 10 most dangerous in the West.

In fact, in the past five years, Riggs Road at SR 347 had the fourth highest number of collisions at a signalized intersection of all Arizona highways, according to Arizona Department of Transportation officials.

A story published Saturday by the Stacker content site focuses on intersections in the Western U.S. between 2004 and 2022, citing the SR 347 intersections at Riggs Road and Maricopa Road as two of the 10 deadliest in the West.

The story used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in ranking the top 10 most dangerous and high-risk Western U.S. highways. 

SR 347 shared the dubious distinction with eight others in the Phoenix area, California and Idaho. 

The Maricopa Road at SR 347 intersection’s dangers might have declined since a traffic light and southbound acceleration lane was installed in late 2022, the last year of the analysis. 

From 2004 to 2022 there were five fatal crashes with six fatalities at Maricopa Road and SR 347, the analysis of the T-intersection found. 

But Maricopa motorists are quite aware of the ongoing Riggs Road demolition derby-like crash cluster that left five fatal crashes and five fatalities in its wake between 2004 and 2022. 

The most staggering information from the analysis came from ADOT crash data. 

The ADOT data showed more than two-thirds of collisions were the result of a rear-end crash, and the highest number of crashes occurred in the 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. hours. 

“That really represents a commuter type of crash,” said Brent Cain, a division director for ADOT. He added that crashes are “heavy in the morning and heavy in the evening, which does match the peak traffic conditions.” 

A total of 967 crashes were reported on State Route 347 from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2022, alone, the state DOT reports. 

This means an average of 193 crashes occurred each year, or nearly one crash every other day. 

Most of the collisions resulted in no injuries, but 21 of those had serious injuries and another 15 were fatal along SR 347 north and south of Maricopa.