The World's 20 Most Dangerous Roads

Want to explore some of the world's most dangerous roads? Then welcome. We've got a lot of distance to travel so we'll just get stuck in. The following are in no particular order and the list is far from exhaustive.

1. "Road of Death", Bolivia

The North Yungas Road in Bolivia is often cited as being the most dangerous road in the world. Buses and trucks can be regularly seen tumbling off its rather precarious edge. Especially when attempting to overtake one another.

2. "Killer Highway", The Philippines

Commonwealth Avenue in the Philippines in Quezon City has seen many pedestrians, cyclist and vehicular collisions and deaths over the years. This is usually attributed to the lack of regulations and law enforcement by local authorities.

3. James Dalton Highway, Alaska

Despite looking benign on the surface, the James Dalton Highway in Alaska is one of the worlds most dangerous roads. It is often filled with potholes, has a lot of windblown debris and runs through the middle of nowhere.

4. "The Highway of Death", Brazil

The BR-116 is the second longest road in Brazil and one of the world's most dangerous roads. It has certainly earned its nickname as thousands of people die every year on it due to poor maintenance and bandit violence.

5. Himalayan Road Network

Road networks on throughout the Himalayas are famed for their poor construction quality in places. Unpaved, narrow, slippery roads are often dotted with crashed cars and rolled over buses.

6. Guoliang Tunnel Road, China

The Guoliang Tunnel Road was carved out of the side of the mountain by local villagers from the town of Guoliang. Before its construction, the village was practically isolated from the outside world. Because of its construction, it is inherently dangerous.

7. Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan

The Taroko Gorge Road is known as one of the most dangerous roads in Taiwan. It has many blind bends, sharp turns and narrow paths that lead through the cliffs and mountains of the region. 

SEE ALSO: GLOW IN THE DARK ROADS BEGIN USE IN NETHERLANDS

8. Pasubio, Italy

This very dangerous road in Northern Italy is famous for its amazing vistas. Driving it can be challenging, so much so, in fact, that parts of it have restricted vehicular access. This doesn't, of course, stop cyclists risking their lives on it.

9. Halsema Highway, Philippines

Back to the Phillippines again with the Halsema Highway to the popular tourist destination of Sagada. This road is landslide prone and is generally poorly maintained. Every year one or two buses will roll over its edges.

10. Skippers Canyon Road, New Zealand

 So convoluted is this road that you actually need a permit to drive it. For those who are awarded a permit to drive it are in for a real hair-raising trip. Let's just hope you don't need run into someone coming the other way.

11. Fairy Meadows Way, Pakistan

With a name like that you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a safe and harmless road. In reality, though very picturesque in setting, it is an extremely narrow and dangerous 10km stretch of road leading to The Killer Mountian of Pakistan.

12. Luxor-al-Hurghada Road, Egypt

Most entries on this list of most dangerous roads are so for natural reasons. Here Luxor-al-Hurghada Road in Egypt diverges somewhat. Although not inherently dangerous in and of itself the road is a hotspot for bandits at night. For this reason, many users will drive with their headlights off at night.

13. "Highway to Hell", Alabama, US

Route 431 through Alabama is a stretch of road through the state dotted with roadside crosses and other memorials. These are very poignant and visible reminders of just how many people have sadly lost their lives to this road.

14. A726, Scotland, UK

The A726 in Scotland has managed to rack up quite the accident toll over the years. Head on collisions are all too common on this otherwise sleepy road. Perhaps it is too picturesque for its own good and for the safety of its users. 

15. Patiopoulo-Perdikaki Road, Greece

Sections of this road are very narrow, pot filled road, lack guardrails often get very slippery when it rains. Unless you are a true thrill seeker you might want to avoid this one at the best of times. You could, of course, walk it but where's the fun in that?

16. Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China

This stretch of road has a record 7,500 deaths per 100,000 users. This high death toll is a result of the frequent numbers of rock slides, avalanches as well as other weather-related hazards that most drivers need to be really careful of.

17. Arica to Iquique Road, Chile

This road runs through some very picturesque landscape. So pretty is the route at parts that drivers are often lulled into a false sense of security. So much so that they often don't pay attention to their speed or other users.

18. A683, England, UK

The A683 is another seemingly innocuous road in the UK. Its road safety record tells a very different story. Each year it racks up higher than average road traffic accident-related deaths. The last few years have seen hundreds of fatalities.

19. A44, UK

The A44 between Oxford and Aberystwyth in the UK has had a previous history of many head-on collisions. It got so bad at one point that the UK government stepped in to introduce countermeasures.

20. Stelvio Pass Road, Italy

And finally another picturesque tour through the Italian countryside. Although not the scariest to drive this 2.7 km stretch of road through the Alps gets very windy and has caused drivers countless problems in the past.

So there you go, 20 of the world's most dangerous roads. Have we missed any nasty ones? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.