Sherri Norton was riding her bicycle down Santiago Canyon Road when she slowed and turned to check on a rider behind her. A car struck her about 1,000 feet from the intersection with Jamboree Road. She died a few days later.

Six months later, just before midnight two years ago, 19-year-old Angel Fernandez of Orange was driving a Toyota Corolla through the same intersection when another car broadsided the Corolla, killing the teen.

Once known to locals as “the road of death,” Santiago Canyon Road crosses Jamboree Road and turns into Chapman Avenue just south of Irvine Regional Park. A complex section of road where rural meets city, it is the county’s most dangerous intersection, with eight serious accidents and five fatalities between 2008 and 2012. The dead included two motorcyclists, a pedestrian and a bicyclist.

Every year, about 100 people die in traffic crashes on Orange County’s city streets. Hundreds more are seriously hurt. Although the freeways seem more dangerous, only a third of the fatal and serious-injury crashes reported countywide happen on state and interstate highways. The majority happen on surface-level streets.

To pinpoint the most dangerous intersections, the Orange County Register analyzed five years of collision data from the California Highway Patrol and compared the number of fatal and severe accidents on local roads. Our analysis excluded state highways, such as Beach Boulevard, along with freeways such as the 91.

Between 2008 and 2012, the most recent year data is available, at least 455 people died and another 2,208 were severely injured in the 2,416 serious accidents reported countywide on streets other than state highways. Of the people killed, 145 were pedestrians and 45 were bicyclists.

Using an online data site run by UC Berkeley researchers, we mapped 2,161 accidents between January 2008 and December 2012.

The data, which is collected by police at the scene of the accidents, is far from perfect. Police sometimes fail to include enough information to identify the exact site of the crash. We excluded 255 accidents, or about 11 percent of the total, because they lacked sufficient information. We only counted incidents at or near an intersection.

The top cause of all 2,416 accidents was driving or bicycling under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to police. Impaired drivers and bicyclists were responsible for 19 percent of serious accidents on Orange County’s roads and streets.

Here are the other intersections we identified as the county’s most dangerous:

17th STREET AT FAIRVIEW STREET, SANTA ANA Nearby shopping centers, apartment complexes and bus stops draw pedestrians and bicyclists to the intersection of 17th and Fairview streets in Santa Ana. With its long straightaways between lights, 40 mph speed limits, and easy access to freeways, 17th Street, which turns into Westminster west of Fairview, is also a popular thoroughfare for drivers. With five serious accidents, the intersection of 17th and Fairview streets is the second most dangerous intersection in Orange County. One person died and five others were hurt – four of them severely – in five serious accidents at or near the intersection. The person who died was a bicyclist. Another bicyclist and two pedestrians were among those hurt. Two of the accidents were caused by jay-walking, two more were caused by running red lights, and one was caused by unsafe backing. CHAPMAN AVENUE AT GILBERT STREET, GARDEN GROVE Like 17th and Fairview streets, the intersection of Chapman and Gilbert is heavily traveled by drivers, as well as pedestrians and bicyclists making their way between nearby bus stops, shopping centers and homes. One person was killed and five others were hurt in the four serious accidents reported in or near the intersection. BRISTOL STREET AT MCFADDEN AVENUE, SANTA ANA The intersection of Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue is a hive of activity after classes let out at nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. Students, parents and shoppers crowd bus stops on the corners and stream across crosswalks – often against a red “Don’t Walk” signal. In one of the four serious accidents reported at or near the intersection, a vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian who entered the crosswalk while there was a flashing “Don’t Walk” signal. Ten more people were hurt – three of them severely – in the other three serious accidents. BRISTOL STREET AT CAMPUS DRIVE, NEWPORT BEACH Failure to yield when making turns at red lights was the primary cause in half of the four serious accidents reported at the intersections where Campus Drive and Irvine Avenue meet Bristol over the 73 freeway in Newport Beach. The accidents left one person dead and five others hurt – three of them severely. Newport Beach police said speed was probably also part of the reason for severe accidents at the intersection. “You’re dealing with drivers going onto the freeway or coming off the freeway, so you’re dealing with higher speed,” said Lt. Tom Fischbacher. “So if there is a collision, it’s more likely to result in a significant injury.” EL TORO ROAD AT MONTCLIFF DRIVE, LAKE FOREST Drivers frequently run the stop sign on Montcliff where the two-lane street meets El Toro, a popular six-lane thoroughfare to I-5, according to people who live and work in the neighborhood. Drivers approaching El Toro come down hill. “They pull up so fast; they don’t even stop,” said Jorge Recinos, 22, a resident who lives nearby. A vehicle ran the stop sign and was broadsided by cross traffic in two of the four serious accidents reported at or near the intersection. Six people were hurt – four of them severely – in the crashes. No one died. JEFFREY ROAD AT IRVINE CENTER DRIVE, IRVINE The intersection of Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive is usually a busy place, with heavy foot and vehicle traffic from a nearby freeway, shopping center and junior college. Each of the four serious accidents at or near the intersection was attributed to a different cause, including speeding, wrong-way driving and driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The cause of one crash was undetermined. Six people – two of them bicyclists – were severely injured in the accidents. No one died. OLYMPIAD ROAD AT ALICIA PARKWAY, MISSION VIEJO Five people were hurt – four of them severely – in four serious crashes at the intersection of Olympiad Road and Alicia Parkway. Drunken driving was the main cause of one collision. Failure to stop and wait at a red arrow caused another. A third was attributed to “improper driving,” while the cause of the fourth was undetermined. Alicia Parkway is one of Mission Viejo’s main paths to the I-5 freeway and one of the community’s most highly-traveled streets, according to sheriff’s deputies. A shopping center, a park, and a residential neighborhood off of Olympiad Road add to traffic at the intersection.

Contact the writer: mcook@ocregister.com