Our second Philippine dangerous road is the Halsema Highway, the popular tourist destination of Sagada. This road highly prone to landslides and is generally poorly maintained. The unpaved roads and the lack of safety guard railing only adds to its deadly reputation. Every year one or two buses roll over its edges.
To make matters worse, the Halsema road is often heavily covered with fog during rainy season, making for poor visibility.
The Barton Highway, Australia
Located in the Down Under, Barton Highway is a relatively short highway in Canberra, in the New South Wales. It connects the capital to the Hume Highway at Yass, and it is also part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra. Despite it's relativity short stretch, it's widely recognized as the worst highway in Australia, especially when it comes to getting people to their destinations safely.
In 2015, road statistics revealed more than 300 casualty crashes occurred on this deadly highway.
Luxor-al-Hurghada Road, Egypt
This road links the ancient city of Luxor in southern Egypt with Hurghada. The Luxor-al-Hurghada Road is another interesting road, because while some of the other roads are dangerous for their risky construction, the weather in the region or other natural reasons, none of those are the case for this road. The driver on the Luxor-al-Hurghada Road have a very different reason to be cautious.
After dark, many local people turn off their headlights due to frequent attacks from bandits in the area. So instead of being visible, they chose to drive in the dark. Needless to say, this road is extremely dangerous with many head-on collisions and fatal accidents.
Pasubio, Italy
Otherwise known as ‘Strada delle 52 Gallerie’ in Italian (‘Road of 52 Tunnels’) located on the massif Pasubio in Veneto, Italy. With its sheer drops, many tight, hair-pin bends, and deep canyons, it was strategically built during World War I to be protected from Austro-Hungarian artillery fire.
As you have probably already guessed by the name, this road boasts 52 spectacular carved tunnels, all of which seem to plunge into deep darkness only to then flood you with light and a mesmerizing view once you're get to the other side. The tunnels on the Pasubio all vary in size and length, with the longest one measuring a whopping 984 ft. (300 m). So if you can handle the uncomfortable height of it, you’ll surely be blown away by how gorgeous the surrounding mountains are. Driving on this treacherous road can be so challenging, that parts of it have been restricted for vehicular access. But this doesn't stop cyclists from risking their lives on it.
Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan
The word gorge means “magnificent and beautiful” in the local Truku language, and the scenery around the Taroko Gorge Road stays true to its name. But be careful not to get lost in the hypnotizing view, as there are many blind bends, sharp turns and narrow paths that go through the cliffs and mountains, that can lead right off the edge if you're not fully concentrated. Taiwanese guidebooks even boast that its construction alone took 450 lives.
Although the Taroko Gorge Road is known as one of the most treacherous roads in Taiwan (and the world), that doesn't seem to stop thousands of tourists from all over globe from making it one of their stops. The problem is, the high volume of visitors in this area means that there are plenty of vehicles and pedestrians on the road, so drive with caution.