5 Worst Places to Breakdown

November 19, 2012 by Charlie Fraser

Breaking down is never fun, waiting for the repair man to come and get you going, wondering how much the repairs are going to cost you. Where you break down makes a big difference to just how horrible the experience will be, do it at home and it’s not too bad, do it in one of these five places and you could be in trouble…

1. Loneliest Road, U.S.

The Loneliest Road aka Highway 50 would be an extremely unfortunate place to breakdown. It runs from Ely to Fernly in Nevada over 287 miles with only a few petrol pumps along the way. The AAA issued a warning to drivers not to drive there unless confident in their survival skills. and indeed hours can go by without meeting another vehicle so it would take a while for help to arrive.

2. Death Road, Bolivia

The North Yungas Road is around 40 miles long and is infamous for being the most dangerous road in the world. Its in an awful, state around 200-300 travellers are estimated to be killed each year along this narrow, curvy road leading from La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia, to Coroico.

Jeremy Clarkson experienced the delights of this road on Top Gears Bolivia Special when he was forced to the edge (where theres no barrier between you and the kilometre-long drop beneath) in a Range Rover when passing another vehicle, the road crumbling beneath him. The winds and poor visibility due from rain, fog and dust would make breaking down on either of these roads even worse, if thats even imaginable!

3. Highway from Hell, Russia

The Lena Highway from Moscow to Yakutsk is a simple 600 mile dirt road that is perfectly manageable in winter, when frozen, however in summer it becomes a swamp, swallowing cars and is totally impossible. Getting stuck here, in the middle of nowhere, is a living nightmare!

Its also the only available road to Yakutsk City which is why people decide to risk it.

4. The M40

Our beloved M40 has been identified as the worst place to breakdown in the UK. Because of its lack of slip roads on long stretches of road between junctions, its particularly tricky for recovery teams to reach the breakdown scene. If theres traffic, the recovery truck will be stuck in the same jam as everyone else and cant possibly pass it. Be prepared to wait it out.

5. Mountain of Death, Costa Rica

The mountain of death is a stretch of the 30,000 mile long Pan-American Highway, in the Costa Rican section. Its essentially a gauntlet of narrow curves, steep cliffs, flash floods and landslides. Not the best place to breakdown then!

This was a guest post from Greenflag, who offer breakdown support 24/7 365 days a year and have an average response rate of 47 minutes, so you wont be waiting long! Visit their site to get breakdown cover from Greenflag.

This was a guest post by Greenflag.