MileCheckHow long does it take to clear a highway crash?
A crash on a state highway stays on the state DOT's feed for about 48 min before it is cleared, in the middle case. That is from 15,961 crashes MileCheck logged across 36 states and provinces from September 25, 2026 to October 16, 2026.
These are state highways, not city streets. The crashes come from each state DOT's feed, which covers interstates, U.S. routes and state routes. City and county streets are not counted.
Clearing a crash means moving the cars, cleaning up debris and reopening the lanes. These times run from when the DOT first posted the crash to when it took it down.
What time of day do most crashes happen?
Across these states, the most crashes were first posted between 4 PM and 5 PM, local time. This is when MileCheck first saw each crash on the DOT feed, within about 16 minutes of it being posted. The crash itself happened a little earlier.
How long do crashes take to clear in each state?
How to read this: each state's DOT decides when to post a crash and when to remove it, and some post unconfirmed reports. So compare a state with itself over time, not with other states. MileCheck reads every feed about every 16 minutes, so each time is accurate to about 16 minutes. Crashes seen only once are left out. States with fewer than 10 logged crashes are not shown. Left out because their feed timing does not show clearance: Kentucky keeps each crash posted for about a day. California crash posts are timed in fixed blocks of hours. Texas lists few crashes in its feed, and most matches were detours.
| State | Typical time on the feed | Half fell between | Busiest hour | Crashes logged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr | 5 PM to 6 PM | 692 |
| Arizona | 1 hr | 48 min and 1 hr 50 min | 8 AM to 9 AM | 940 |
| British Columbia | 48 min | 31 min and 1 hr 50 min | 9 AM to 10 AM | 102 |
| Colorado | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 437 |
| Connecticut | 32 min | 16 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 242 |
| Delaware | 48 min | 16 min and 1 hr 35 min | 5 PM to 6 PM | 76 |
| Florida | 49 min | 32 min and 1 hr 35 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 2,291 |
| Georgia | 49 min | 32 min and 2 hr 25 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 19 |
| Idaho | 1 hr 35 min | 48 min and 2 hr 25 min | 6 PM to 7 PM | 55 |
| Indiana | 47 min | 32 min and 1 hr | 2 PM to 3 PM | 102 |
| Kansas | 32 min | 16 min and 48 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 279 |
| Louisiana | 32 min | 16 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 140 |
| Maryland | 32 min | 16 min and 1 hr | 5 PM to 6 PM | 350 |
| Massachusetts | 32 min | 16 min and 48 min | 5 PM to 6 PM | 552 |
| Michigan | 32 min | 17 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 667 |
| Minnesota | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 50 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 1,533 |
| Mississippi | 1 hr 35 min | 48 min and 1 hr 55 min | 3 PM to 4 PM | 75 |
| Missouri | 32 min | 16 min and 48 min | 8 AM to 9 AM | 213 |
| Montana | 1 hr 50 min | 1 hr and 4 hr | 12 PM to 1 PM | 87 |
| Nebraska | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 35 min | 7 AM to 8 AM | 52 |
| Nevada | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 35 min | 5 PM to 6 PM | 143 |
| New Jersey | 32 min | 16 min and 1 hr | 3 PM to 4 PM | 529 |
| New Mexico | 1 hr 20 min | 32 min and 2 hr 55 min | 8 AM to 9 AM | 38 |
| New York | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 340 |
| North Carolina | 48 min | 17 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 944 |
| Ohio | 32 min | 16 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 1,009 |
| Oregon | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 605 |
| Pennsylvania | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr | 7 AM to 8 AM | 342 |
| Rhode Island | 17 min | 16 min and 32 min | 11 AM to 12 PM | 37 |
| South Carolina | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 275 |
| Tennessee | 48 min | 31 min and 1 hr | 3 PM to 4 PM | 145 |
| Utah | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr 20 min | 5 PM to 6 PM | 230 |
| Virginia | 48 min | 32 min and 1 hr | 4 PM to 5 PM | 1,580 |
| Washington | 47 min | 16 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 343 |
| Wisconsin | 34 min | 16 min and 1 hr 20 min | 4 PM to 5 PM | 445 |
| Wyoming | 1 hr 20 min | 48 min and 2 hr 10 min | 10 PM to 11 PM | 36 |
Where does this come from?
MileCheck reads the live crash and closure feeds of every state DOT and records when each incident appears and disappears. DOT feeds remove cleared crashes within hours, so this record does not exist anywhere else. We add a month to it every month.
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