A summer road trip sounds like the ultimate easy-living experience—until you get out on the highway and get stuck in gridlock, have a close call with a crash, or see your engine break down in the middle of nowhere. In June, Mitsubishi and QuestionPro polled 3,000 motorists about the roadways they most fear. Read on to see the top ten and why you might want to plan a detour.
One of the busiest roadways in Mississippi, Route 49 is infamously crowded. The state recently completed a $253 million upgrade to widen the road and add a shoulder in the hopes of easing congestion.
This roadway enables New Yorkers to escape to the peace of the Catskills. Unfortunately, it's a hectic ride, narrow, winding, and constantly crowded. The state plans to spend $1 billion adding a third lane of traffic and converting it to Interstate 86.
A gravel road that stretches 414 remote miles, Dalton Highway is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the country. "The road is known for being particularly deadly," notes dangerousroads.com, citing its "bad conditions, poor visibility and sudden 2-to-4 lane changes, all contributing to the many fatalities."
Officially known as the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, 14A is beautifully scenic, boasting panoramic views of limestone cliffs and waterfalls. But the winding 19-mile stretch of road is also one of the nation's most feared.
The sixth-most-feared road in the U.S. earned its reputation because the 75-mile, four-lane highway narrows to three or two lanes and includes dangerous curves, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. But modernization efforts are underway, which include widening roads and clearly separating opposing lanes of traffic.
Known as "the loneliest road in America," this highway crosses vast desert areas with long distances between towns, making it especially risky for breakdowns.
"A combination of vision-obscuring fog, narrow lanes, rough roads, and a series of one-lane bridges once made Hawaii's Route 200 so dangerous that some rental car companies would forbid customers from driving their cars on it," Conde Nast Traveler reports. The state has invested in improvements, including widening and repaving lanes, but low visibility and several one-lane bridges still make Route 200 treacherous.
This highway runs for about 200 miles from east to west, with the span between Del Rio and Marathon marked by vast stretches of empty land. If you break down, you may have trouble finding quick roadside assistance. Road trippers also fear extreme heat and severe storms in the area.
This remote road runs through Death Valley National Park, which is subject to extremely high temperatures in the summer. Breakdowns are considered especially dangerous.
Traversing Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, US Route 208 is known by locals and travelers as the "Death Highway." It's one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the United States, with more deaths per mile than any other. Aggressive drivers and its narrow, outdated size are blamed.
