This story was originally published by the nonprofit newsroom, Crosstown and is republished here with permission.
Where South Figueroa crosses Slauson Avenue, bad things happen. Over the past four years, the intersection has been the scene of 17 felony hit-and-run collisions and five severe injuries. The crosswalks aren’t safe, either: seven pedestrians have been struck there.
All told, there were 66 serious collisions at the intersection, which is in the Vermont Slauson neighborhood in South Los Angeles, making it the most dangerous in the entire city during that period.
Recently, Los Angeles streets have become more lethal, with the number of traffic fatalities exceeding the number of homicides for the past three years—with more than 300 people killed annually in collisions each year since 2022. Serious injuries resulting from collisions, as well as vehicle-pedestrian collisions, also far exceed pre-COVID totals.
Crosstown compiled a list of the 20 most dangerous intersections in the city over the past four years based off of data from the Los Angeles Police Department. Some of these intersections have similar issues, such as proximity to freeway offramps. Figueroa and Slauson, for example, is a block from an exit to the 110 Freeway. Others have inadequate traffic signals or signage…