If You Have Auto Mechanic Training, You’ll Be Astounded by These Wild Roads Cars Can Drive On
If there’s one thing a passionate driver yearns for, it’s a road that can let them truly test the performance limits of their vehicle. That typically means lots of bends for testing out cornering, and some good long straight stretches too, for knocking out those rpms and aiming for a top speed. While plenty of roads fit that description to suit the thrill-seeker, there’s also a good number of roads around the globe that grab the senses for all the wrong reasons, generating a visceral response from a genuine feeling of “do or die.” On these treacherous roads, one wrong move of the wheel can literally make the difference between life and death.
Want to know what some of those crazy roads look like? Let’s take a look at a few of the world’s most notorious!
North Yungas “Death Road” in Bolivia
This 69 km stretch of road in Bolivia easily rates as one of the world’s most terrifying, carrying cars from La Paz to a small town in the Amazon named Coroico. The jungle passage was aptly nicknamed “Death Road” due to the number of lives it used to tragically claim each year, usually somewhere between 200-250, before a new road was built in 2006 to offer drivers a much safer route. With an elevation of 4,650m above sea level, the cliffside passage is so narrow it can barely accommodate a single vehicle, keeping drivers white-knuckled with countless hairpin turns, the utter absence of safety railing, and landslide risks. In spite of North Yungas Road’s fearsome reputation and the availability of a much safer travel option between the towns it connects, many thrill-seeking drivers and cyclists still travel the deadly route.
Check out the route for yourself here:
A Look at the German Autobahn for Those Seeking an Auto Career
Those with an auto career may sometimes dream about the possibility of knocking out top speeds without risking a walloping fine. That fantasy becomes reality on the German Autobahn, with more than 70% of the more than 12,000 km of highway having no legal speed limit. Cars are regularly clocked travelling between 200-250 km/hour on the route, with nary a police car giving chase. German authorities boast the autobahns to be the safest in the world, but recent statistical information casts some doubt on the claim, placing the fatality rate over each 1,000km stretch of German highway at 30.2%—quite a bit higher than the 26.4% rating for the rest of Europe. Not much of a surprise, imagining the slim-to-none likelihood of surviving a collision travelling at 250 km/hour.
James Dalton Road in Alaska
Those with auto mechanic training may already be familiar with this notorious route, frequently covered on the 2009 TV series “Ice Road Truckers.” The 666 km highway (that number is for real) runs through eerily desolate Alaskan backcountry, stretching from just north of Fairbanks, Alaska, to the Arctic ocean. Originally built as a trade supply route for the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System, the isolated road is feared by drivers for its lack of services and signs of life.
Get a glimpse of the notorious road here:
After hearing about some of these crazy roads around the world, maybe a quiet Sunday drive in your own neighbourhood isn’t sounding so bad after all?
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