La Carretera de los Yungas was, probably, the most famous road in the world as well as the most dangerous. This gravel dirt track covers a 69-kilometre (43 mi) stretch between La Paz and Coroico, in the Yungas region of Bolivia.
To be fair, it’s technically not considered the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” anymore due to the construction of a new highway close by, which directs most traffic away from its path. It’s estimated that 200 to 300 people traveling on it died each year. The thin road climbs jungle-clad mountains to a height of 4,650m, winding and turning all the while with nauseatingly deep canyons below. If you get dizzy in a fast moving glass pneumatic vacuum elevator then be sure to avoid this road at all costs.
Dozens of vehicles went off the road each year, and with vertical drops of up to 1000m over the edge, annual fatalities reached into the hundreds. While the rest of Bolivia drives on the right side, here vehicles drive on the left. A driver on the left has a better view of the edge of the road. Furthermore, descending vehicles never have the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. It was the black widow of roads and notorious for being the most treacherous stretch of road in the world as threats of landslides and the 1000 meter cliff faces pose serious danger while traveling its slick and rocky path.
from: www.dangerousroads.org
video: Andor Bezsnei
picture: jmblum
