The thing about driving, when you think about it, is that you're in control of a massive metal bullet that weighs thousands of pounds and travels at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. It's just not safe! That's why, here in America, we have very strict rules on the kind of roads you can operate your rolling death machine on. The rest of the world, however, isn't so lucky. In this feature, we'll spotlight ten roadways that promise certain death.
Kuandinsky Bridge, Russia
If there's one thing we've learned from watching hundreds of hours of dash cam videos, it's that Russia has some pretty lax driving safety laws. How else to explain the fact that driving on the Kuandinsky Bridge is legal? Located in the frozen Trans-Baikal area of the massive country, this terrifying bridge is a mere six feet wide and teeters precariously over the Vitim River. It's the only way that residents of the small village of Kuanda can get to the rest of civilization, but the slick wood surface and lack of repairs mean that sometimes cars just break through the structure and fall to oblivion below, leaving the next person in line the task of getting some planks and fixing the hole themselves.
Route 431
We would be remiss if we didn't add at least one American road to the hall of shame here, and there's no thoroughfare in the States quite as dangerous as Route 431 stretching through Alabama. Locals infamously the "Highway To Hell" because of the sheer volume of accidents that take place there. Both sides of the road are dotted with crosses marking crash sites. So what makes this well-paved stretch of taxpayer-funded road so deadly? High speeds are one issue, and the other is the road changing from two to four lanes and back repeatedly. In addition, visibility often sucks, leading to fatal crashes.
Guoliang Tunnel Road
Even though China is one of the world's manufacturing and industry leaders, some residents still live in incredibly remote rural locations. Case in point: the tiny town of Guoliang, population around 350. Traditionally, the only way to get there was via the "Sky Ladder," a set of narrow, terrifying stairs. Residents decided to build their own road in the 1970s, and over half a decade they hollowed out by hand a chunk of the mountain 3/4 of a mile long. It's just wide enough for one vehicle to drive through, but luckily traffic isn't that heavy. Because they dug following the softest rock, the road is insanely bumpy and meandering, and the whole structure seems like it's about to cave in at any moment.
Halsema Highway, Philippines
High altitude is a pretty common recipe for dangerous roads, and the Halsema Highway is no exception. This perilous mountain path connects the towns of Baguio and Bontoc, around 93 miles apart, in the north of the Philippines. The road was constructed in 1930 by local workmen after the United States refused to fund the project, and it went unpaved until 2011. The addition of asphalt hasn't done much to make it safer, though, as the highway still consists of dangerously twisty curves with no guardrails. To make things work, thick fog often rolls in during the rainy season, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
Skippers Canyon Road, New Zealand
You know how you can tell that a road is dangerous? If you need to apply for a special permit from the government just to drive on it. Skippers Canyon was a hot spot in the New Zealand gold rush of the mid-1800s, and with all the precious metal coming out, miners needed to have a way to transport it. Their solution was a terrifying winding unpaved monstrosity only a few feet wide that's bordered by steep, terrifying drops. Since there's only enough room for one car at a time, if you run into someone going the other way somebody's going to have to drive in reverse for as long as two miles to find a turn-off point so they can pass. Oh, and the road itself is in awful condition, with massive potholes and washouts.
Taroko Gorge Road
You're going to see more than one Chinese road on this list. As the massive country industrializes and steps into the automotive age, more and more roads that were never meant for cars are starting to see traffic, to disastrous effect. The Taroko Gorge Road in Taiwan is the only mode of access to the gorgeous Taroko Park, one of the country's most spectacular natural destinations. Unfortunately, it's a nightmare to drive, with steep drops, tons of traffic and frequent washouts and mudslides from storms. You need a steady hand at the wheel to even consider navigating this one.
Commonwealth Highway
Most of these dangerous roads are located in remote places, but the Commonwealth Highway doesn't have that excuse. Running through the heart of Quezon City in the Philippines, this major arterial defies all of the wisdom about dangerous driving. It has plenty of lanes (as many as 18 in some places) and a speed limit just above 35 miles per hour. Even with all that, the Commonwealth Highway sees a staggering 3-5 accidents every day, with many of them fatal. The blame goes to the country's atrociously bad drivers, who routinely speed and turn without signaling. Pedestrian and motorbike fatalities are also very common, and when the road floods (which it does often, due to poor drainage), things get even worse.
Dalton Highway
On a map, the Dalton Highway doesn't look like such a big deal. It's pretty straight, and relatively inland. But it's all about the location: this 414 mile road is located in the north of Alaska, one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Built to bring supplies to oil companies drilling in the Arctic, there are only three towns on the entire stretch of the highway, with a total of 60 residents between all of them. The danger here comes from the massive trucks that tear down the gravel road, kicking up huge storms of dirt and rocks. If your car isn't equipped to handle the journey and you break down, you're done. No cell phone service and temperatures as cold as -80 degrees will ensure a painful death, because nobody's going to stop for you.
Kabul-Jalalabad Highway, Afghanistan
Stretching nearly a hundred miles, the Kabul-Jalalabad Highway connects Afghanistan's capital with one of its largest cities. When it was paved in 1969, it was a tremendous infrastructure accomplishment for the country, but decades of war have reduced it to a barely drivable gravel path with two narrow lanes. The mountain passes that this road winds through are incredibly unsafe, and canyons are littered with smashed cars, trucks and buses that toppled off of the sides. Afghan drivers are also known for driving way too fast, and the combination of their cars and the overloaded tractor trailers that inch along the road makes for an unprecedented amount of carnage.
North Yungas Road, Bolivia
If you want modern civilization to flourish, you need a way for citizens to move around. The South American nation of Bolivia is working hard to catch up with the modern era, but their mountainous terrain is making it tough. If you want to get from La Paz to the town of Corioco, the most direct way is across the side of the Cordillera Oriental mountains on North Yungas Road. The winding two-way road is just 12 feet wide. On one side, the rock wall of the mountain face. On the other, a 2,000 foot drop to certain death, with no guardrail to save you. Crosses and other memorials dot the sides of the road to pay tribute to the many, many people who perished trying to navigate it. Oh, and you drive on the opposite side of the road that you normally would, just to make things more difficult.
Related: More Of The Most Dangerous Roads In The World