More Danger on the Road

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Are you safer in the air or on the highway? Take a look!



We drove this one, several years ago, all the way out to Key West.



Florida Highway 1

The road that delivers drivers to paradise is also the most dangerous in the U.S. Florida’s Highway 1 stretches 545 miles, leading to the paradisal Florida Keys. While it can be tempting to soak up the infinite turquoise horizon as you pass mile after mile of tropical water, it’s best you keep your eyes on the road. A studycomposed of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration concluded that over 1,000 people have died in car accidents on this road between 2007-2017.



California Highway 1

Certainly no walk in the park, particularly when the big logging trucks are ruling the roads. It is never easy to engage the beautiful ocean scenery, while keeping your car in the proper lane. This is one of the more spectacular drives in the world, just be careful!



This is the one road left in the world I would like to take:



North Yungas Road

More aptly nicknamed “The Death Road,” this stretch of road perilously twists and turns while running between La Paz to Coroico. The 50-mile, single lane road cuts around dense, rainforest-clad cliffs and reaches heights of 15,000 feet. The rain and fog limit visibility and the absence of guardrails means one wrong move and you’re plunging hundreds of feet. Up until 1994, 200 to 300 people lost their lives annually due to buses and vehicles veering over the edge of the treacherously high road. This road tempts dare-devil cyclists seeking to defy death by completing the route. Unfortunately, North Yungas Road shows no mercy. There have been nearly two dozen cyclist deaths in the last twenty years.



Some others that I never cared for: Road to Hana, "shortcut" from Penticton back to Vancouver, Highway 50 on the cliff side heading into Lake Tahoe, highway through the Atacama Desert (Chile), Laotian hillside to Luang Prabang, any New York cabbie, any Brazilian cabbie, the road to Ronda (Spain). Hana is only 67 miles long, climbing 4700 feet. But more pedestrians are killed in Hawaii than killed in vehicles.



Pick your poison. The recent accidents on train and air travel have provided a reminder. At least in a car, you have a little more control over your fate. Worse yet, hop on a motorcycle, where your chances of meeting your demise are better than a thousand to ONE!!!!!



Speaking of poison, with the recent tourist deaths in the Dominican and Bali, I wonder if this strange virus is Legionnaires Disease making an appearance? I often wonder how people who spend so much time on the road are able to stay well. If you layer some bad food or water on top of the transportation and viral issues, travel becomes a little less appealing.

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