Bolivia’s “Road of Death”

Your seatbelt isn’t going to do much for you if you get into an accident on Bolivia’s Nor Yungas Road. Known to locals as the “Road of Death,” it’s steep, prone to landslides, and unpaved. Plus, it has thousand-foot drops, few guardrails, and is only about 10 feet wide. Not only that, the weather in the area is often foggy and/or rainy. Hundreds have died since the road was built in the 1930s, many by careening off a ledge in their vehicles.

Fatal accidents have decreased since 2006, when an alternate (and much safer) road opened and siphoned off most of the traffic. These days, folks on the Road of Death are usually traveling to small villages that are inaccessible any other way. But they are joined by tourists searching for a thrill and cyclists eager for a death-defying downhill ride. And the dangers of the road remain. Several bikers die there each year.

(Source: National Geographic)

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