About This Quiz
Sometimes to get from Point A to Point B, we don't always take the best possible path. Many roads seem like a good idea, but nature, lousy drivers, time and poor planning can often be the bane of an enjoyable driving experience. Some roads are conducive to traffic jams; others lead to rock falls, cliffs, head-on collisions and endless, uninterrupted space where anything could happen.
If you consider yourself someone with a head for adventure and an eye for danger, maybe you can recognize where some of these roads lay in wait for unsuspecting drivers. From the nearly endless hairpin turns of 99 Bend Road to Heaven to the stretch of I-4 from Tampa to Daytona Beach in Florida that has proven to be the deadliest stretch of road in all of America, these roads that need to be respected. Respected or — if we're practical — avoided at all costs. Sometimes a detour is in your best interests, isn't it?
If you think you know some of the most dangerous stretches of road in the world, grab your GPS and take the quiz!
While the official name for this stretch of road is North Yungas Road, most people know it as Death Road. It's nearly 50 miles through treacherous mountains, and nearly 300 people per year died on it before 1994 when a new road was introduced to divert traffic from this place.
The Killar-Kishtwar Road travels through mountains along gravel-filled paths, and several miles travel under ominous rocky outcrops that hang over the entire width of the road. It was handmade by locals well over 100 years ago and does not get repaired often at all.
Ranked the fourth most dangerous road in America, the stretch of Highway 17 in South Carolina winds perilously through forests that leave drivers unable to see what's ahead. Combine this with deer and mountain lions that have a habit of wandering into the road, and you can see what the problem is.
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U.S. Route 1 in Florida has more fatal crashes than just about any other stretch of road in America, depending on the year you check the stats. About 1,000 people have died on the road in the last decade.
The Zoji La tunnel is being constructed to help mitigate the problems with Zoji La pass in India. The dirt road winds high into the mountains where steep drops and landslides are par for the course. It hits 11,000 feet at its highest point and has to be closed in the winter thanks to 50-foot snowdrifts.
You may want to avoid I-285 if you're near Atlanta. This heavily trafficked length of road suffers fearsome congestion and is often packed with large trucks. Combined with the myriad of turns, it's a dangerous mix for drivers.
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The Guoliang Tunnel in China was constructed by hand and is a precarious road to traverse, especially in rainfall. A steep cliff next to it and the danger of falling rocks make this an especially dangerous road. Construction of the road was so slow, that at some points it only progressed about one foot per day.
Based on data compiled between 2011 and 2015, I-4 in Florida had 1.25 deaths per mile, making it the deadliest interstate in the country. By 2017, that number had jumped up to 1.41 deaths per mile.
The official name for the Road of Bones in Russia is the R504 Kolyma Highway. The road takes you across the massive, desolate expanses of Siberia where extreme weather, bottomless mud pits, and a river you're expected to drive across if it's frozen enough, make this a terrible path to follow.
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One of the biggest dangers of the Dalton Highway is isolation. You're looking at 400 miles and no hospital, no motel, no 7-11, no McDonald's, nothing. Only three towns exist along the way, so if something happens, you could spend hours and hours stranded in sub-zero temperatures.
Killer Highway is the nickname for Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. Speeding has long been the main cause of accidents on the roadway. In 2001, the government instituted a strict ban on speeds of over 37 miles per hour.
The desert stretch of I-10 through Arizona to California is particularly dangerous thanks to the endless isolation and lack of anything to keep you focused. Nearly 85 people are killed each year on this stretch of road.
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The Sichuan-Tibet Highway connects Chengdu in China and Lhasa in Tibert. You'll run across a lot of Buddhist monasteries along the way, but the road is plagued by mudslides, landslides and avalanches. There are about 7.5 deaths per every 100 travelers.
With a name like Highway of Death, this Brazilian highway can't be a good thing. The official name is a much more friendly BR-116, and it's the longest highway in the country, stretching over 2,700 miles. It's the Curitiba–São Paulo section that has earned the ominous nickname thanks to dangerous weather, poor maintenance and bandits.
Not many people will ever drive the entire Pan American Highway that starts in Alaska and goes all the way to Chile. Most of the highway is perfectly safe but not all of it. Drug cartels and rebels have patrolled sections of the road through parts of Mexico and into Central America.
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Passing through Taroko National Park is Taroko Gorge Road, carved out of the very mountain and winding precariously through numerous blind curves. The road is narrow and routinely becomes dangerous due to weather and even earthquakes.
The Houston stretch of I-45 was the most dangerous stretch of an already dangerous road. Between 2011 and 2015. it had 51 fatal wrecks. Weather is a factor in terms of danger, but drunk drivers have also been responsible for the high number of deaths there as well.
It's no accident that 99 Bend Road has the name it has. The road has no fewer than 99 brutal hairpin turns weaving and winding through the mountains of Tianmen Mountain National Park. Many of these precarious turns are right along sheer cliff faces high in the peaks of the mountains.
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During World War I, the military built the Strada delle 52 Gallerie — or Road of 52 Tunnels — as a road for mules, not vehicles. These days, it's so dangerous, that the government forbids mountain bikers from traveling it.
Fairy Meadows Road is a very pleasant name for such a treacherous path that's only about as wide across as a Jeep. Also known as Nanga Parbat Pass, this road through mountains in Pakistan is neither paved nor maintained by anyone along its many steep lengths.
Montana's Highway 2 is one of those roads that's dangerous because of its remote location. One of the biggest issues with getting into an accident on this road is that it can take upwards of 80 minutes, on average, for an ambulance to find you. Good luck!
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Halsema Highway is also known as Baguio–Bontoc Road and reaches about 7,400 feet up at its highest point, making it the highest altitude highway in the country. During the rainy season, the asphalt portions of the road are known to get slippery, and landslides are common.
The treacherous Million Dollar Highway is a portion of U.S. 550 that runs through part of Colorado. The name Million Dollar Highway has disputed origins. Some say it cost $1 million per mile to build. Others say there's $1 million in gold ore in the dirt, and at least one person said they wouldn't drive the road again for $1 million.
Skipper Canyon Road has the misfortune of being established upon a very precarious type of rock. In dry weather, the weight of cars traveling on it will pulverize the rock to dust. In wet weather, the rock degrades into sludge. As a result, drivers required a permit so locals can prepare for a car traveling down the road.
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The Karakoram Highway started construction in 1966 and wasn't finished until 1979. It took another seven years before the public could use it. The road cuts through the most mountainous terrain in the world and is beset by landslides, storms, avalanches, steep drops and random animals.
The Luxor-al-Hurghada Road in Egypt is known for its many collisions but their cause is extremely unusual. Many drivers will travel the road at night with their lights off so the many thieves and bandits who also travel the road won't see them. The result is a large number of accidents.
The length of I-15 that connects Las Vegas and Los Angeles is known to be particularly dangerous. Over a 15-year span that was studied, 1,069 people died in accidents on the 181-mile stretch.
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The stretch of road known as the Highway to Hell in Alabama is part of Route 431 that goes from Alabama to Tennessee. Sudden lane changes, poor visibility and drivers with a bad habit of speeding make the road exceptionally dangerous.
A726 in Scotland is a relatively short stretch of road that is less than 5 miles long, but pedestrians and cyclists have made it a dangerous road to travel and increased the number of fatalities.
At over 1,000 miles in length, the Bruce Highway in Australia is incredibly long and incredibly dangerous. Poor driving is a big culprit; many drivers pass illegally. The road is also poorly maintained, thereby adding to the danger.
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The proper name for this road is Trollstigen Road, so the nickname Troll Ladder makes some sense. A number of hairpin turns in the road and the icy conditions that can occur in Norway in the winter, make travel on this road particularly treacherous.
The Patiopoulo-Perdikaki Road is well known for being in a perpetual state of disrepair. Loose gravel and massive potholes make the drive problematic, but the sheer drops are the real problem. That and the fact it's still surprisingly busy despite all of its pitfalls.
South Africa's N2 highway has seen 13,000 annual deaths in some years, a number that is absolutely staggering. The main issues with the road are negligent driving, poor weather and sometimes the presence of animals.
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Federal Highway 1, also known as Carretera Federal 1, features more than its fair share of steep drops right into the ocean, hard turns, and a lack of barriers that make it dangerous. The fact that a good portion of drivers who go down the road don't have permits to drive is also cause for concern.
Ruta 5 in Chile is the longest road in the country, and it is barren. A number of crashes have been attributed to the fact there's just nothing to see for miles, and drivers lose focus in the emptiness. Fog may also appear suddenly, causing drivers to leave the road.