BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — There’s a stretch of pavement with an unofficial name no road should ever have: Dead Man’s Curve. It’s not printed on road signs or marked on maps. But for drivers across Birmingham — especially truckers — the name is passed along like a warning. A sharp, elevated turn on I-20 West near the I-59 interchange by Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, the curve has become one of the most notorious and feared spots on the city’s interstate system.
Traffic cameras often show a steady stream of cars and trucks navigating the turn. On many days, it looks like business as usual. But history — and repeated wrecks — tell a different story.
“It’s a common place to have an overturned truck,” said Bo Watkins, vice president of sales at Watkins Trucking, a Birmingham-based company that has been operating for more than 80 years. “That’s happened frequently during my time here — and since they put the interstate in.”…