US 285 is known as Death highway. This route is counted as one
of the most dangerous due to lot of accidents in the recent past.
The roadway is used for transportation to and from West Texas
oilfields and in New Mexico oilfields.In 2017, 93 people lost their
lives on Route 285 on the Texas portion of the road.This path runs
through Pecos, Texas, and Carlsbad, New Mexico. Reasons for
accidents are as follows:
- It was built for rural use and not commercial use.
- The deaths in Permian Basin increase with increase in oil
prices.As prices rise companies higher more drivers which increase
traffic on road resulting in accidents.
- Inexperienced drivers, long hours working with less sleep,drink
and drive and no proper maintenance of vehicles also result in
accidents.
Steps taken to improve the situation:
- Improvement of safety and health conditions by making new oil
pipelines for oil transportation.
- Imposing fines on rash driving, drink and drive as this will
force drivers to drive properly.
- Considerable amount of money is being spent to repair the
highway and make it more safe.