Sunday 23 June 2013

10 Most Dangerous Roads in the World

Here is a list of 10 most dangerous roads in the world. These roads have high death rates and are extremely dangerous. The people who live around these areas depend on these roads for their daily transportation; so consider yourself lucky. About 1.3 million people die in traffic accidents every year. The World Health Organization has declared 2011-2021, “A decade of action for road safety.” But while many of those deaths could be prevented by better driving, there are some roads that test the skill, and courage, of any driver. Whether it’s hairpin bends, sheer mountain drops or roads through war zones, following are
10 most dangerous roads around the world.
10. Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China


The Sichuan-Tibet Highway, a high-elevation road between Chengdu and Tibet where landslides and rock avalanches are common, is undoubtedly part of the problem. It is a road with a record of over 7,500 deaths for every 100,000 drivers has reason to be feared. Due to rock slides, avalanches, and poor weather drivers should certainly use caution.
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


The Guoliang Tunnel is carved along the side of and through a mountain in China. It may be hard to see in the photo, this road was hollowed out of the side of a mountain by several villagers from the town of Guoliang. Before the construction of this mountain pass the village was cut of from the rest of civilization by the surrounding cliffs. Although it doesn’t see much traffic, due to its construction it is inherently fairly dangerous.
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


The Dalton Highway is a 667 km road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Although appearing serene at first glance, is filled with potholes, small flying rocks carried by fast winds, and worst of all it runs through the middle of nowhere.
2. Jalalabad–Kabul Road, Afghanistan


Many roads have been dubbed “most dangerous,” but the 65-kilometer stretch of highway from Jalalabad to Kabul has more claim than most, snaking through Taliban territory. But it’s not the threat of insurgency that makes Highway so dangerous. It’s a combination of the narrow, winding lanes that climb up to 600 meters through the Kabul gorge and the reckless Afghan drivers trying to overtake the heavily-burdened haulage trucks.
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.

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