The List: The Most Dangerous Roads in the World

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

Editorial Director BIO

Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf: Compare Cars
For now, they're the only two mass-market electric vehicles on the road. So, which one should you... Read More

• #12LEADERBOARD RANK
• 4885ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 96COMMENTS POSTED

5 15,696 views July 20, 2010

Bolivia Road of Death North Yungas Road

Enlarge Photo

Fans of TheCarConnection.com might remember our Weird, Wacky and Wild Street Names contest a few years back--with winning street  names like Psycho Path, Divorce Court and Farfrompoopen Road taking the day.

Here's a set of roads famous for a very different reason. They're among the world's most dangerous roads and intersections.

We've scanned the Web for pics and clips of the worst roads and intersections around the globe, and found eight that stand tall above the rest. Some are dangerous and proven so by statistics--others are pretty obvious, as you'll see here.Check over with the Association for Safe Travel for more information, and see a chart of the world's worst roads--and drive safely wherever you may be, especially on these roads:

Bolivia's Road of Death

Above is just one of the hairpin turns and thousand-foot drops on North Yungas Road in Bolivia, also known as the Road of Death. Widely considered the most dangerous road in the world, the Yungas trail runs for 40 cliff-hanging miles from the Amazon jungle to the Andean highlands. At places, it's only 10 feet wide, and has no guard rails or any driver protection. National Geographic's excellent minifeature on the Yungas Road shows just how dangerous it can be:

Deosai National Park

Enlarge Photo

Deosai National Park trail, Pakistan

Pakistan is home to another road that traverses unsafe territory--down to this rickety bridge that challenges even the toughest drivers and vehicles. It's in Deosai National Park, or the "land of the giants," at the top of one of the highest plateaus in the world. [Photo: Qavi via DarkRoastedBlend]

A682 Lancashire

Enlarge Photo

A682, Great Britain

The A682 in Great Britain through Lancashire is a treacherous one--and it's the major road through that region. It's racked up almost 100 deaths over a ten-year period, so many that the European Road Assessment Programme called it the worst road in Britain.

St. Petersburg, Russia

This video of a traffic light in St. Petersburg, Russia, has been circulating on Facebook and YouTube for a while. And still, few other intersections can demonstrate so vividly how wide roads, poorly planned turns and traffic lights can conspire to kill:

Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Enlarge Photo

Pembroke Pines, Florida

Back in 1999, the insurers at State Farm studied U.S. roads to arrive at a list of the 10 worst intersections in America. Topping that list? The intersection of Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Fla., beating roads in Philly, Phoenix, Tulsa and suburban New Orleans. We're sure it's been fixed since then...right?

U.S. 19

Enlarge Photo

U.S. 19, Florida

MSNBC says this may be the most dangerous road in the U.S. A hundred pedestrians were killed crossing the road during one five-years stretch. It's infamous enough to have its own Flickr group. In all, pedestrians and accidents on one part of the road in Pinellas and Pasco County tallied 262 deaths over five years. [Photo: Flstormchaser641]

State Road 138

Enlarge Photo

State Road 138, southern California

MSNBC also cites State Road 138 as one of America's most dangerous roads, with 39 deaths across the L.A. and San Bernardino areas over a five-year period. The highway sports no guardrails and at some points, 50-foot drops off the shoulder. [Photo: ArtsOnEarth]

Barton Highway

Enlarge Photo

Australia's Barton Highway

It's the most dangerous highway in Australia. Part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra, the Barton Highway mates undivided stretches of highway with intersections that risk "brutal side-impact crashes." [Photo: OzRoads]