Every year, about 30,000 people are killed in road crashes in the United States.
These are some of the deadliest highways in the U.S., and in the world.
It isn’t entirely clear why so many of the most dangerous highways in America are in Florida. But the state is one of the most densely populated in the nation, which contributes to the number of road accidents.
According to data from the USDOT, these are the most accident-heavy roads for truck drivers.
Across all nations, about 1.3 million people die every year in road crashes (compared to 30,000 in the United States alone). That’s an average of 3,287 per day.
The road conditions that some drivers face across the globe are truly frightening. Here are some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
The North Yungas Road is one of the few routes that connects the Yungas region of northern Bolivia to the capital city of La Paz.
In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named it as the “world’s most dangerous road.” One estimate stated that 200 to 300 travelers are killed along the road every year. The road includes cross markings on many of the spots where vehicles have fallen.
This high-mountain road is located in Pakistan and was ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous roads by the World Health Organization. This gravel road isn’t maintained, has no guardrails, and is no wider than a standard Jeep despite having plenty of traffic. It also hasn’t undergone any repairs since it was built by villagers hundreds of years ago.
This road connects the Afghan cities of Kabul (the national capital) and Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan. The road climbs up the steep sides of a gorge, but locals, buses, and trucks still travel at breakneck speeds.
The Tuen Mun Road is a major expressway in Hong Kong. It’s known for frequent traffic jams and road accidents because of its antiquated design (it was built in 1977) and the fact that it’s one of the most heavily-used roads in Hong Kong.
On July 10, 2003, a bus and a truck collided on the road, knocking the bus off a bridge and into a village below. The accident claimed 21 lives.
A 2010 report by the Road Safety Foundation named the A537 as the most lethal road in the United Kingdom. The road has severe bends and is edged by stone walls or rock faces for almost its entire length. Fatal and serious collisions on this section rose by 127% in three years. Most crashes happened in dry, daylight conditions on weekends during the summer months.
Sources: Daily Mail, History Channel UK, Fleet Owner, Forbes, Zonar Systems