10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Roads

1. Trans-Siberian Highway, Russia

At over 6,800 miles, spanning from one end of Russia to the other, the Trans-Siberian Highway is one of the longest in the world. It was built by gulag inmates so there a lot of bad juju on this strip of real estate even in good weather. In winter, it’s besieged with ice patches, avalanches, blizzards, and landslides. In summer, the potholes and gravel melt into a soupy quagmire that is just about impossible to cross. The Trans-Siberian Highway has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous.

2. Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China

Want a punishing journey through one of the world’s most remote regions? Try the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. You can pair breathtaking views with rock slides, avalanches, and truly heart-stopping weather. With over 7,500 deaths for every 100,000 drivers, it has a well-deserved reputation for danger.

3. Luxor-al-Hurghada Road, Egypt

Smart drivers will turn off their lights after dark when driving on this relatively straight and paved road. The reason is bandits and terrorists that shoot at drivers, kidnappers, and other bandits that aim to disrupt tourism in the area. But turning off the lights has an obvious danger besides terrorist: head-on collisions, which happen frequently.

4. Skippers Canyon Road, New Zealand

Travelers are required to get a permit to travel this narrow and winding road and car rental companies nullify driver’s insurance if one wheel so much as touches the gravel treads. The road is slippery and features sheer drops of several hundred feet, so if you plan to go, make sure you write a will first.

5. Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan

Known as one of the most dangerous roads in Taiwan, the Taroko Gorge Road is full of blind curves, sharp turns, and narrow paths leading through cliffs and mountains. The Taroko Gorge Road is your basic driving nightmare: blind corners, parts that are so narrow they barely accommodate cars, and massive stomach-flipping drops off the side of the cliff and mountain. Throw in tour busses, scooters, and pedestrians all fighting for the tight space and you can see why this is called Taiwan’s most dangerous road.

6. North Yungas Road, Bolivia

In Bolivia this is called the “Road of Death” because cars routinely go flying off the narrow pass into the valley below. Even so, cyclists love to take their chances on this road. The view, including the steep drop, must feel exhilarating but without guardrails, it produces way too many deaths.

7. Highway 101, Mexico

Care to share the road with gangs, organized crime members, drug dealers, bandits? If so, this perilous stretch of highway through the northern border state of Tamaulipas, this is the place to be.

8. Karnali Highway, Nepal

This road is responsible for killing about 50 people per year – almost one a week. It’s a choked, rubble-strewn road crowded with too-large cars and motorbikes, all fighting for space on a too-narrow surface, and constantly under the threat of landslides.

9. Atlantic Road, Norway

This five-mile highway is looks a bit like a roller coaster though it is generally very modern and in good repair. However, it does have a design flaw: there is a section of it that gets battered by waves when the weather is rough – and it frequently is in Norway. Fierce wind and massive waves crash over the barricade. It’s definitely not a place for nervous drivers.

10. Nanga Parbat Pass, Pakistan

What do you get when you cross extremely high altitude, worn-out gravel roads, narrow passages, and no guardrails? A mess named Nanga Parbat Pass.

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