Photographs: Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images
While you may have the best of the cars at your disposal, there are some roads where driving skill rules over machine.
CNN rates 10 such dangerous roads in the world (based on deaths) where you should prefer to leave the steering in the hands of an expert.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Amcs1983/Wikimedia Commons
The Stelvio Pass
Country: Italy
Death rating: 1/10
This is the second highest paved mountain pass in the Alps; at an elevation of 9,045 ft above sea level. The road has seventy five hairpin turns, according to Wikipedia.
Many adventurous motorists take a journey to the pass for thrill of driving/riding every year. It is open from June to September.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Karora/Wikipedia Commons
Los Caracoles Pass
Country: Chile
Death rating: 2/10
This is a mountain pass in the Andes between Argentina and Chile. As it is the main pass between two important towns (Santiago and Mendoza), this pass actually see heavy traffic.
The road has countless hard switchbacks on an extremely steep incline and numerous hairpins.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Modzzak/Wikimedia Commons
The Coast Roads (Adriatic Highway)
Country: Croatia
Death rating: 5/10
The coast roads of Croatia are part of the Adriatic Highway that stretches along the Adriatic Sea. Mainly, the highway is in Croatia but it also stretches through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
These roads are considered dangerous for the numerous blind curves and at-grade intersections.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Philip Halling/Wikimedia Commons
The Widow-Maker
Country: United Kingdom
Death rating: 6/10
The road is also considered as the most dangerous one in the UK. It gets the name because of mounting death toll.
Also called as A537, it winds through the Peak District between Macclesfield in Cheshire and Buxton in Derbyshire and is known locally as the ‘Cat & Fiddle road’, according to UK’s Daily Mail.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Courtesy, General Motors (Canada)/Twitter
Guoliang Tunnel in the Taihang Mountains
Country: China
Death rating: 6/10
This is a road carved on the side of and through TaihangMountains. It provides access road to the village of Guoliang.
Prior to the construction of the tunnel the village was cut off from the civilisation. The villagers, therefore, carved the 1.2 kilometres tunnel through the mountain mainly with hand tools.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Courtesy, Ron Good/Alberta Museum Of Chinese Horology
The Zoji Pass
Country: India
Death rating: 7/10
This 9km road connects provides a vital link between Ladakh region and rest of the Kashmir connecting Srinagar to Leh.
According to Wikipedia, it runs at an elevation of 11,575 ft, and is the second highest pass after Fotu La on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
With melting snow, the route is slippery and there’s no barricade on the other side like most roads in Ladakh.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Shakeel Gilgity/Wikimedia Commons
Karakoram Highway
Country: Pakistan
Death rating: 7.5/10
The highest paved international road in the world, Karakoram Highway connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountains.
The highest pass on the highway, KhunjerabPass, is located at an elevation of 15,397 ft.
Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, according to Wikipedia.
The road is prone to land slide.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Tech. Sgt. Joe Coleman/Air Force Magazine/Wikimedia Commons
The Highway of Death
Country: Iraq
Death rating: 8/10
This one does not have steep elevations and hairpin turns, rather it’s a six-lane highway between Kuwait and Iraq. Officially, it is called Highway 80.
The road was first used by Iraq to invade Kuwait in the 1990. Later, in 2003, US and British forces used it for invasion of Iraq.
During the Persian War, U.N. coalition forces attacked Iraqi army which was invading Kuwait using this highway.
Between 1,400 and 2,000 vehicles were hit or abandoned on this road.
The scenes of devastation on the road are some of the most recognizable images of the war.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Ilosuna/Wikimedia Commons
The Road of Death
Country: Bolivia
Death rating: 8.5/10
This 69-kilometre road is known by many other names including The North Yungas Road, Grove's Road, and Road of fate).
It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the ‘world's most dangerous road’, according to Wikipedia.
In 2006 one estimate stated that 200 to 300 travellers were killed yearly along the road.
The road includes cross markings on many of the spots where vehicles have fallen, Wikipedia states.
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Indian highway among the world's most dangerous roads
Photographs: Jerrye & Roy Klotz MD/Wikimedia Commons
The Road From Jalalabad to Kabul
Country: Afghanistan
Death rating: 9.5/10
The 65-km stretch runs between Kabul and Jalalabad Road. This road sees the maximum number of accidents and is considered as the most dangerous in the world.
According to CNN it’s the ‘combination of the narrow, winding lanes that climb up to 600 meters through the Kabul gorge and the reckless Afghan drivers trying to overtake the heavily-burdened haulage trucks’ makes it the most dangerous path a person can take.
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