Study: Austin's highways among deadliest in the country

According to a recently released five-year study, I-35 and Hwy 290 are two of the 25 deadliest highways in America.

The study was conducted by Teletrac Navman, and measured deadliness by deaths per mile of road.

There were 0.632 deaths per mile on 290, and 0.479 deaths per mile on I-35. Hwy 290 was the 9th deadliest highway, while I-35 was 17th.

"Really, I'm not surprised at all. based on the speed, people getting on from the access road, I'm not surprised at all," said Emily Kurtz, who lives near I-35. "We've seen quite a few accidents."

K.D. Thigpen lives near 290, and he says he gets scared when he drives on that highway.

"They drive too fast. They turn too fast," Thigpen said.

TxDOT officials say the main cause of these deadly crashes is drivers being careless.

"They didn't allow for enough time, they were hurried, they're rushed, they're anxious," said Chris Bishop.

In 2016, there were more than 3,700 deaths on Texas roads. This is a more than 5 percent increase from the previous year.

As we get closer to the busiest travel season of the year, Bishop says he hopes drivers are even more alert and cautious with more cars on the roads than usual.

"Their focus is not on the driving, it's on what they're going to do afterwards. Reign it in. Focus on the trip," Bishop said.

This is advice drivers can get behind.

"It's people's lives at stake. It's not worth it," said Kurtz.