In California, a curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was memorialized in the hit song "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. The song's lyrics place the accident location at the curve on westbound Sunset Boulevard just west of Doheny Drive in West Hollywood. Voice actor Mel Blanc was severely injured while driving here in 1961, leading to a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and subsequent road reconstruction. Earlier lyrics, however, suggest the first curve hit at high speed would be the one at Marmont Lane, 2.4 miles before Doheny Drive. Another example in California is a series of curves in the 21600 block of Pacific Coast Highway just east of Carbon Canyon Road in Malibu, which has been noted as hazardous.
Colorado has a sharp turn on eastbound Interstate 70 just west of exit 259 near Morrison. This turn is preceded by a 7-mile stretch of a 6.5% grade downslope and has been the site of numerous fatal runaway truck accidents. In Illinois, a curve on Historic Route 66 at Towanda is also known by this name.
Michigan features a Dead Man's Curve on County Road 492 in Marquette Township, Marquette County. This curve was where the first state highway center line in the United States was painted when the road was part of State Highway M-15. In New Mexico, State Road 333 (previously U.S. Route 66) makes a sudden curve near the I-40 overpass between Albuquerque and Tijeras. Rocky cliffs and frequent deer traffic contribute to its hazardousness.
In New York, Union Square, Manhattan had a double curve at the southwest corner of Broadway and Fourteenth Street where trolley lines were installed. Trolleys regularly struck pedestrians in this busy shopping district. By 1930, the Fourteenth Street Association successfully lobbied for the removal of above-ground rails. Ohio has the nearly 90° turn on Interstate 90 near downtown Cleveland, officially called the "Innerbelt Curve." This curve connects the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway to the Innerbelt Freeway and was designed to account for Burke Lakefront Airport. Proposals to improve it have existed since the 1960s, and a modification study is underway as of 2023.
A curve on a section of Interstate 76 near Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, known as the "Conshohocken Curve," has been the site of several crashes. South Carolina Highway 9, about 10 miles west of Chester, South Carolina, also has a dangerous curve that has been the site of several fatal crashes. Finally, Highway 101 in Washington, between Sequim and Port Angeles, is another location known as Dead Man's Curve.
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