|
Some of the roads are so dangerous that rental car insurance companies
won’t cover you for driving on these roads. If an insurance company
thinks it is not safe to drive, you know the road must be extremely
dangerous.
|
|
Passage du Gois (France)
This 4.3km road connects mainland France and the island of Noirmoutier.
At first glance it might look like a normal road to drive on. However,
if you wait a few hours you might see a completely different picture.
As a matter of fact, this road is flooded twice a day by the high tide.
If you want to drive on this road, make sure you check the tide
schedule.
Even if you time the tides right, driving this road can be challenging.
As you can imagine, the road is wet and often covered with seaweed. As a
result it can be very slippery to drive on. Use extreme caution, drive
slowly and avoid having to break suddenly. You might also want to pack
an inflatable boat, just in case… |
|
|
|
Patiopoulo-Perdikaki Road (Greece)
Perdikaki-Patiopoulo is a 2.35 km mountain road located in Greece. The
road is steep with a lot of pot holes. It is also extremely narrow with
severe drops on both sides of the road. Moreover, there are no guard
rails! Add pedestrians, livestock, trucks and buses and you will get one
of the most dangerous roads in the world to drive.
There are no marking to determine the edge of the road. Which makes it
especially dangerous at night when most of the accidents happen. It is
scary to drive it during day light but at night it is completely insane! |
|
|
|
Skippers Canyon Road (New Zealand)
Skippers Canyon Road is one of New Zealand’s scenic routes and tourist
destinations. This 26.5 km road was build over 140 years ago by hand by
miners.
The road has very little safety features and it is extremely narrow.
When two vehicles meet on the road, one often will have to back up to
find a part of the road where it is wide enough to pass safely. And such
spot might be really hard to find. Sometimes one vehicle has to reverse
for up to 3 km.
This road is so dangerous that your rental car insurance won’t be
honored if you drive on it. |
|
|
|
Eyre Highway (Australia)
Eyre Highway is 1675km long and it goes through the most remote parts of
Australia. This road is straight, flat and well maintained. So what is
dangerous about it?
The road is so straight, flat and boring that drivers are having hard
time to concentrate on the road or even stay awake. As a result, the
road experiences a significant number of crashes and collisions. |
|
|
|
Zoji La Pass (India)
It is hard to call it a road. Zoji La (or The Zozila) is an important
mountain pass in India. It serves as a link between Ladakh and Kashmir.
The road is 9 km long and 3,500 meters above sea level. Due to heavy
snowfall and high winds the pass is often closed during winter time.
Even when the weather is good this road is extremely dangerous to drive
on. It is narrow, there are no safety barriers and it is used by large
trucks and livestock! This road is definitely the one to stay clear of.
|
|
|
|
Gilgit-Skardu Road (Pakistan)
Gilgit - Skardu Road is a spectacular and dangerous mountain road
located in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The road is 167 km (104 mi) long.
The road, called Strategic Highway 1 (S-1) , starts on the Karakoram
Highway, in Gilgit, the capital of Gilgit-Baltistan within the namesake
district, at an elevation of 1.500m (4,900ft) above the sea level. It
ends in Skardu, a town and capital of Skardu District, in Gilgit–Baltistan,
at an elevation of 2.226m (7,303ft) above the sea level.
The road runs along the River Indus. It’s an all-weather road. Initially
the surface was gravel, but over the years some sections were paved.
Gilgit-Skardu road is very important from the tourist and also strategic
point of view. The road is winding, in some places only wide enough for
one vehicle, and in many places bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters
(many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails.
The drive is 8 hours. The road can be blocked for weeks at a time
depending on conditions (though two to five days is more normal). This
road was constructed by Pakistan Army Engineers with association of
Chinese Engineers in 1982. You can view many beautiful villages and
largest suspension bridges and valleys on this road.
|
|
|