The Liguri Border Comb Route, known locally as the LGKS, is a former military road that winds along the Italian – French border in the southwest corner of Italy. Built as a military road, it’s original purpose was to support military installations strategically located along its 39 mile length. Today, the forts are abandoned and the LGKS serves as a mecca for off road enthusiasts on two and four wheels. The trail leaves little room for error, so it is not for the novice rider or driver as the above video illustrates. More vids after the jump:
You say “dangerous”, I say “fun”. Maybe it was the good fortune of spending my formative driving and riding years strafing the canyons around Boulder, Colorado, but I can’t help getting worked up over mountain roads with plenty of switchbacks, blind corners and decreasing radius turns. I may prefer asphalt to dirt, but I’m no stranger to Jeep trails in the Rockies, either. I’ve learned the hard way why you never wash the mud from a rental Toyota 4Runner that you used to explore the Switzerland Trail (unless you really really like trying to buff out brush pinstriping).
This ARTICLE, posted on Waze, gives their take on the 19 most complex and dangerous roads in the world. Some are just interchanges; complex, but not particularly worthy as a vacation destination. Others may offer drama or sheer terror, but at such low speeds that it’s not worth the effort to get to them. Here’s my take on the best six and how I’d like to enjoy them:
Did you know that, in the United States, some luckless motorist slams into an unwitting Bambi every 26 seconds? That adds up to more than a million incidents a year … the roads are running red with the blood of cute, innocent woodland animals. Worst of all, the average cost of such an accident is now over $3,000 … What’s going on? Our tin-foil hat theory: Al Qaeda agents have infiltrated our national forests and are hell-bent on destroying our decadent infidel way of life by tossing wildlife at our indulgent BMWs. For the skeptics, click through for more.
The U.S. Department of Transportation just doled out $100,000 to upstart company Solar Roadways to develop “Solar roads,” i.e. sturdy, 12×12 solar panels built specifically to be embedded into roads. The Department of Energy and, of course, Solar Roadways hopes that these solar roadways will push quite a bit of power into the energy grid. Each panel can develop around 7.6 kwh of power per day. The panels may also be include heating elements to keep the road from freezing over and glowing LED road markings to help people finally act out TRON based fantasies in the real world. For a mere $7k per panel!
Have traffic deaths increased drastically with higher speed limits? That’s what a new study would like you to believe with its incredible-sounding conclusions: 12,545 deaths are attributable to higher speed limits! Sounds like lowering speed limits would save lives, right? Wrong. The study looked at the years 1995-2005, and didn’t look at any recent data. So what does the recent data show? Contrary to what the first study would have you believe, traffic deaths are at their lowest levels since the early 1960s. Lower speeds would save more lives, but so would not driving at all. Click through for more analysis.
Sixty-seven year old Charlie Bruener and his wife Donna were driving down US-27 in Alexandria, Kentucky, when they say they were cut off by 82 year old Beecher Davis. Unfortunately for the Bruener’s, they would soon find out that Mr. Davis is the most ornery old man in the great state of Kentucky.
According to the Charlie Bruener, Mr. Davis followed them down US-27 until they pulled over in a Walmart parking lot, at which point Mrs. Bruener called 911. Mr. Davis then revealed his well earned title of “Most Ornery Octogenarian in Kentucky” by getting out of his van and approaching the Bruener’s car huffing and puffing mightily.
There have been a good number of motorcycle awareness commercials in the past. They usually rely on the shock value of some couple in a car making a turn when motorcycle crashes into them. This one is different. It has lines. It reminds me of Kraftwerk. Remember them?
Police in Britain’s Greater Manchester area are using a sophisticated, and obviously overpriced, new weapon in the never ending battle against average citizens… the CCTV-Equipped Smart car. The Smart car has a 12 foot mast with a camera on top, along with a computer that records everything it sees, digitally. No longer will the filthy criminal get away with such anti-social behavior as “adjusting the radio” or “combing their hair” without the unblinking eye of THE MAN seeing it; and of course, billing you for it. Because that’s the whole point of these systems, revenue collection. They see a driver with one hand off the wheel, they send said driver a ticket, which said driver will pay because he’s a polite Englishman who stutters charmingly. They all do that, it’s part of their genetic predisposition towards social awkwardness. They all have that too.
Apparently, not only can the free market help ease congestion on the roads, but its proving to be a more efficient way to repair them as well. Fast-food chain KFC recently offered to fill the potholes of various cities for free, as long as they get to stencil a non-permanent logo over the patch that says “Re-Freshed by KFC.”
This is another perfect example of the free market working to fix problems that most people think only government can solve. The market constantly evolves new and interesting ways to solve problems, as evidenced by KFC’s pothole plan. If their plan is accepted by enough cities, other companies will want in on the action too. Private companies may start taking over all sorts of public goods problems.
As we mentioned during the introduction to our beginner’s course, Road Rage 101: How To Piss Off Other Drivers, poor driving isn’t an obvious side effect of limited cerebral capacity, but rather the result of countless hours of feverish, committed practice. Although drivers in places like New Jersey make it look effortless, the fact remains that dangerous, often illegal driving habits require fastidious dedication to the craft, and we here at RideLust are determined to help. To begin, you must first honestly asses your personal ability. If you feel as though you’ve successfully mastered all of the lessons outlined in Road Rage 101, or you have at least 5 years experience regularly commuting in the Tri-State area, you might be ready to graduate to an intermediate level of douchebaggery. However, be forewarned: the upper tier of jackassedness is an elite circle open only to those who have demonstrated an unfailing dedication to inciting blind road rage. If you still feel truly prepared to assume the responsibility of serving as an ambassador of the asinine, please proceed to study the advanced tactics we’ve outlined below.
