It’s the kind of footage that will have you shrinking back into your chair and bracing for the worst.
The view is that of a winding, crumbling road ahead and steep 2,000-foot drops on either side.
Does that sound like your worst nightmare? Well, for many riders that was the reality – and they somehow defied the forces of nature and survived the world’s most treacherous roads.
Stomach-twisting footage shows daring drivers and motorcyclists inch by inch along narrow mountain passes – with no walls to protect them if they make a single mistake.
Here, Web takes a look at footage of motorists driving the world’s most terrifying roads – and somehow cheating death.
China
Unnerving footage shows a truck tumbling off the edge of a 330-foot cliff in China after the driver missed a turn on the narrow mountain road.
The driver had been following his GPS up the narrow road, a steep drop off to the right and the steep mountain face to the left, when he went off the road trying to turn the truck.
The driver and a passenger, by serendipity, managed to escape from the truck when it was hanging dangerously on the edge of a cliff near the city of Changzhi in January 2022.
Unnerving footage shows a truck tumbling off the edge of a 330-foot cliff in China after the driver missed a turn on the narrow mountain road
The truck’s front wheel skidded over the edge of a cliff near the city of Changzhi in north China’s Shanxi Province
Drone footage shows the truck tipping dangerously over the edge, while separate video shows workers recovering the stricken vehicle.
The driver had tried to sweep down the road as the path was getting steeper and narrower by the minute.
He began reversing the truck and drove between the rock face on one side and a steep cliff on the other, but one of the truck’s wheels slipped off the road, leaving the vehicle dangling on the cliff’s edge.
Nepal
Footage not for the faint of heart shows a group of British tourists navigating a narrow mountain road with a 2,000ft drop on one side.
The video shows the group in the mountainous region of Manaslu, Nepal, approaching a large overhang over the rocky trail.
While the approach is being filmed, the cameraman continuously comments on the area and describes the route as “the craziest road I’ve ever driven in my life”.
Footage not for the faint of heart shows a group of British tourists navigating a narrow mountain road with a 2,000ft drop on one side
The three-minute clip shows the group in the Manaslu Mountains approaching a large overhang over a railway track
During the nerve-wracking ride, one passenger had to exit the vehicle – narrowly avoiding a vertical fall into a river – and run ahead to “reconnoiter the route.”
The cameraman can be heard saying, “What do you think of this drop? Oh dear God.
‘Oh shit. So we’re now at a point where the roof rack is going to get stuck under the overhang so Rincou’s had to go ahead and gauge the height so we could get a van through.
‘It’s the narrowest stretch of road we’ve ever been on. The drop to the river is [an] estimated 2,000 ft.’
India
Video shows a motorcyclist nearby being thrown off the edge of a steep mountain in India while trying to overtake a truck.
The motorcyclist lost control of his bike while riding through the narrow and muddy sections of the Zojila Pass in the Himalayas.
The driver, who was following a truck carrying iron pipes, had moved to the right-hand side of the road – inches from the sheer drop – to see if he could overtake the truck.
Video shows a motorcyclist nearby being thrown off the edge of a steep mountain in India while trying to overtake a truck
The motorcyclist lost control of his bike while riding through the narrow and muddy sections of the Zojila Pass in the Himalayas
By a stroke of luck, the rider who almost fell off his bike and fell down the steep cliff to his death managed to regain control at the last second
But the motorcyclist lost control when he came dangerously close to the truck in front and slid over the muddy track towards the ridge.
By a stroke of luck, the rider who almost fell off his bike and fell down the steep cliff to his death managed to regain control at the last second.
The Zojila Pass, which is an important road link between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, is considered one of the most dangerous mountain roads in the world.
Peru
Tiptoe shots show a driver driving down a narrow and crumbling road with a sheer chasm of Peru’s Cotahausi Canyon below.
A passenger in the van films the treacherous journey through the 11,000-foot gorge, which is more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon.
The video shows the van driving slowly across the unpaved and crumbling road, with the window overlooking a steep drop-off to the bottom of the gorge.
Tiptoe shots show a driver driving down a narrow and crumbling road with a sheer chasm of Peru’s Cotahausi Canyon below
There are no walls protecting drivers and passengers from certain death if they make a single mistake.
But with a bit of luck, the driver will master the winding road with hairpin bends and stomach cramps.
France
Incredible footage shows a truck carrying huge logs making its way through the winding roads of the French Alps.
The driver can be seen driving the timber truck up the narrow road, on the left a steep slope and on the right the steep mountain face with the heavy load of felled trees.
The video shows the driver slowly moving around a corner, with the front of the truck facing the steep drop below.
Incredible footage shows a truck carrying huge logs making its way through the winding roads of the French Alps.
At one point the driver has to drive closer to the steep drop to avoid a large overhanging rock
The driver skillfully navigates around the corner – but encounters a narrow, crumbling road barely as wide as the truck.
At one point the driver has to drive closer to the steep drop to avoid a large overhanging rock.
The footage was shot on narrow roads near Roche-de-Rame, a commune in the French Alps in south-eastern France.
Pakistan
The video shows a group of tourists driving a jeep along one of the most dangerous roads in the world in Pakistan.
The footage shows the driver driving up the narrow and unpaved Fairy Meadow Road from Raikot to the village of Tattu, with steep drops on either side.
The video shows parts of the road crumbling down the steep mountainside.
The video shows a group of tourists driving a jeep along one of the most dangerous roads in the world in Pakistan
The footage shows the driver driving up the narrow and unpaved Fairy Meadow Road from Raikot to the village of Tattu, with steep drops on either side
Footage shows the steep drop down the side of the mountain, with no walls to protect riders from going off course and falling to their deaths.
The Fairy Meadow Road was ranked the second deadliest highway in the world in 2013.
This is because it is a “treacherous high-altitude road, unstable and narrow mountain road”.