Top 10 Dangerous Intersections of 2012

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(Gallery by Sarah Cole | scole@al.com)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- No one who goes to or from work through Redstone Arsenal's Gate 9 will be surprised by this statistic: The intersection of Old Madison Pike and Research Park Boulevard was the site of more wrecks last year than any other in Huntsville.

The confluence of busy Old Madison Pike (Cummings Research Park, Bridge Street and Madison commuter traffic) with the arsenal's main entrance and the two major east/west exits onto I-565 makes for a messy merge-o-rama that often results in wrecks.

Overall, there were 7,321 crashes in Huntsville in 2012, 271 more than in 2011. Police say the biggest cause for wrecks are heavy traffic and following too closely. The most wrecks occur during evening rush hour, between 5 p.m.and 6 p.m.

Below are the 10 most dangerous intersections in the city, followed by the number of wrecks at each in 2011 and 2012, according to Huntsville police.

After you read the list, jump into the comments section below and tell us which Huntsville intersection scares you most, and what you think should be done to make these "malfunction junctions" safer.

Huntsville's 10 Most Dangerous Intersections of 2012

1. Old Madison Pike at Research Park Boulevard (62 wrecks in 2012, 41 in 2011)

2. Jordan Lane at University Drive (61 in 2012, 70 in 2011)

3. University Drive at Memorial Parkway, southbound (48 in 2012, 30 in 2011)

4. Jordan Lane at Interstate-565 (44 in 2012, 35 in 2011)

5. I-565 at Research Park (40 in 2012, 44 in 2011)

6. Mastin Lake Road at Memorial Parkway (36 in 2012, 27 in 2011)

7. Governors Drive at Memorial Parkway (35 in 2012, 39 in 2011)

8. Sparkman Drive at I-565 (34 in 2012, 30 in 2011)

9. Jordan Lane/Alabama 53 at Research Park Boulevard (33 in 2012, 21 in 2011)

10. Memorial Parkway between Clinton Avenue and Governors Drive (33 in 2012, 18 in 2011)