The accident took place on the Abu-Redees-Tur highway in the governorate late last night.
Twelve of the 18 deceased were police conscripts, four were students and two of the victims remained unidentified, a statement by the Ministry of Interior said.
The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known.
Egypt has one of the world's highest accident rates owing to careless driving and poor road and vehicle conditions.
The World Health Organization ranks Egypt as the world's 10th worst country in road accidents.