Top 10 Dangerous Roads
10. Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China
9. The Stelvio Pass, Italy
The Stelvio Pass located in Italy, at 9045 feet is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, slightly below the Col de l’Iseran 9088 feet. Some roads look a lot more dangerous than they really are. With more hairpins than Helena Bonham Carter, the Stelvio Pass looks like a child’s scribble over the hills. The road climbs almost two kilometers and, with just a low concrete barrier between you and the steep mountain drop, it’s best not to look down. A bit too much speed on one of the road’s 60 180-degree corners could spell disaster.
8. Los Caracoles Pass, Chile
This road passes through mountain Andreas between Chile and Argentina.The road has many steep slopes and sharp turns without fences security. The road is snow-covered almost all the year. Snow together with the complex natural landscape requires extreme patience and driving skill to drive in emergency situations. However, this road is maintained in working condition, which significantly reduces the number of accidents on it. Trucks and even double-decker tourist buses travel daily on this road.
7. Skippers Canyon Road, New Zealand
The Skippers Canyon Road, located in New Zealand, is unbelievably scary as it’s made from a very narrow cut in the middle of a sheer cliff face. This winding road actually requires a special permit to drive. If you do manage to get permission though, be ready for a slippery challenge and good luck if you run into someone coming from the other direction.
6. The Zoji Pass, India
Zoji La is a high mountain pass in India, located on the Indian National Highway 1D between Srinagar and Leh. The pass provides a vital link between Ladakh and Kashmir. It runs at an elevation of approximately 3,528 metres, and is the second highest pass after Fotu La. It is often closed during winter. But it’s a lifeline that keeps the people of Ladakh in touch with the rest of the world.
5. Guoliang Tunnel Road, China
4. Karakoram Highway, Pakistan
Named the “Friendship Highway” by the governments who built it. The Karakoram Highway is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an elevation of 4,693 metres. It’s prone to landslides and floods and to make matters worse, the road is unpaved in Pakistan. But it is still a tourist attraction, passing through some spectacular gorges along the old Silk Road.
3. James Dalton Highway, Alaska
2. Jalalabad–Kabul Road, Afghanistan
1. North Yungas Road, Bolivia
Also known as the “Road of Death” in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the “world’s most dangerous road”. One estimate is that 200 to 300 travellers are killed yearly along the road. The road includes cross markings on many of the spots where vehicles have fallen. It is a regular occurrence for buses and trucks to go tumbling to the valley below, especially when they try passing each other