Like most people, we love to drive. After all there is just something inspiring about driving on an open road with your favourite set of wheels. That is, if they road quality is up to scratch. This is why it’s fortunate that a new study has ranked the best and worst roads in the world for 2022. By Richard Augustin
The study is a useful one for sure. Assessing where you can drive on high quality roads provides numerous benefits especially for travellers. It not only translates to a more comfortable road trip and better travel experience but the added notion of safety and lower risk of vehicle damage.
Conversely, poorly maintained roads can be damaging to your car and dangerous for all road users. Bad road surfaces can lead to an increase in accidents; which can, in turn, lead to a rise in injuries; and sadly, fatalities.
Best roads in the world
Fortunately, Zutobi, an easy and affordable online Driver Education resource has ranked some of the best and worst roads in the world. According to the company, the study was conducted by studying the area of each country and the length of its road network from Worlddata.info.
Following which, they then calculated the km of road per 100,000 km2. The road quality score per country was sourced from TheGlobalEconomy.com, with collected data from the most recent recorded year (2019), and five years earlier (2014).
After analysing the data, road quality, road fatalities, and the relative size of the road network, Zutobi has now presented its findings with the report here. In case you’re wondering, you don’t need to go far to experience the best roads in the world because Singapore has some of the best.
The Garden City tops the rankings with the highest overall road score of over 9/10. It has the best road quality, as well as the fewest road traffic deaths, 1.69 per 100,000 people. There is, after all, a reason why the Formula 1 Grand Prix makes a stop every year for its street circuit. The Netherlands, who ranked number one in 2014, ranked second in the 2022 study. Rounding up the top five are Switzerland, Japan, and Denmark.
World’s Worst Roads
When it comes to the world’s worst roads, Kuwait scored an abysmal 1.33/10 for quality. The nation also recorded the third highest number of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people, almost 19. Countries that rounded up the top five for low road quality score are Costa Rica, Georgia, Panama and New Zealand.
Despite its spectacular landscape, the world’s southernmost country has challenging roads due to its mountainous terrain. Another reason why New Zealand dropped in the rankings is partially due to the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake which destroyed a large section of the state Highway 1 (New Zealand’s biggest road).
Across the Causeway, Malaysia was named as the nation with the 12th worst quality roads in the world. According to the study, the road quality of our neighbours across the border has decreased by over 5% in the last 5 years. Over 22 road traffic fatalities per 100,000 have occurred on Malaysia’s highways – the second highest number of road traffic deaths in the world after Saudi Arabia.
(Main and Featured image: Hu Chen/Unsplash)
This article was first published on Augustman Singapore.
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