Дэлхийн хамгийн урт шулуун зам болох Саудын Арабын 10 дугаар хурдны зам нь жолооч нарын анхаарлыг сулруулж, осол гарах эрсдэлийг нэмэгдүүлдэг болохыг мэргэжилтнүүд онцолжээ.
Харадх бүсээс баруун эрэг хүртэл 149 миль үргэлжлэх энэхүү зам нь байгалийн хувьд цөлийн үзэсгэлэнтэй орчин бүрдүүлдэг ч жолоодлогын хувьд өндөр эрсдэлтэй гэж үздэг. Иргэний инженерүүдийн үзэж буйгаар зам маш шулуун байх нь жолоочийн анхаарал сарних, хурд хэтрүүлэх, улмаар нойрмоглох зэрэг сөрөг үр дагаварт хүргэдэг байна.
Норвегийн Тээврийн эдийн засгийн хүрээлэн болон бусад судалгааны байгууллагуудын дүгнэлтээр, замын нугачаа бага байх нь жолоочийг хурдаа хянах чадваргүй болгодог ажээ. Эргэлт ихтэй зам дээр жолооч илүү сонор сэрэмжтэй байдаг бол шулуун замд хурдаа хэтрүүлж, орчин тойрны өөрчлөлтийг мэдрэх чадвар нь буурдаг байна.
Тиймээс жолооч нар ийм төрлийн зам дээр явахдаа хурдаа тогтмол хянаж, шаардлагатай үед түр амрах зэрэг аюулгүй байдлын арга хэмжээг авах нь нэн чухал юм. Замын хэлбэрээс үл хамааран жолоочийн анхаарал төвлөрөлт нь аюулгүй зорчих гол хүчин зүйл хэвээр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The longest straight road in the world is in Saudi Arabia, but don’t let its straight and narrow design fool you – it’s more dangerous than you might expect.
Stretching out at 149 miles long, this road connects the Haradh area to the west coast, taking drivers on a scenic desert route.
While it undoubtedly offers tranquil views, one engineer has issued a warning about roads this straight.
And his concerns may surprise you.
Dangerous roads are usually quite obvious
Usually, dangerous roads are visibly so from a mile off.
Take ‘Death Road’ in Chile as a prime example of that.
Leaving aside the fact that its name just screams ‘bad news’, it’s perched upon a perilous cliff-edge.
The fact that Jeremy Clarkson had a hard time driving there speaks volumes.
You don’t have to be a driving pro to know that this isn’t a route for the faint of heart (or the slippery of hand).
Then there’s these winding roads in the Chinese mountains, which are enough to make even the most foolhardy driver’s stomach jolt in anticipation.
Suffice to say, dangerous roads are usually quite obvious to the naked eye.
But sometimes roads are all the more treacherous when the danger isn’t obvious.
Engineer issues warning about the longest straight road in the world
Saudi Arabia’s Highway 10 stretches out over 149 miles, carrying drivers from Haradh to the west coast which takes just over two hours.
Offering up scenic views of the deserts, it sounds like a dream to drive.
But according to one civil engineer, a road this straight is the ‘most dangerous road you can drive on’.
Naturally, this led to a lot of confusion on X, where the statement was shared.
“How? It’s just a straight line. Even a newbie will be able to drive here,” one person queried.
But plenty more people seemed to understand what the original poster was implying.
“It’s easy to drive extremely fast without even realizing it too. I drove on many desert roads like this in South Africa, only to look at the speedometer and realize I was going well over 100mph,” one user said.
“[It] felt like I was going maybe 70mph, but the lack of trees and other objects moving relative to you makes it difficult to assess speed.”
“Normally, the road should have curves to avoid being bored (or sleeping)! Not straight like that!” another wrote.
Is there any truth to the notion that straight roads are more dangerous?
Most of us would assume that roads with curves and bends are more dangerous.
After all, how many times have we driven through a winding road with a sense of trepidation, expecting a car to come around the bend and surprise us?
But it turns out that straight roads may indeed see more accidents.
Several studies seem to suggest this is the case.
One study by the Institute of Transport Economics in Norway concluded that straight roads led to far more instances of dangerous speeding.
“The accident rates both in curves and on straight sections are strongly influenced by how drivers adapt behavior to the number of curves per kilometre of road,” it said.
“In addition, a high frequency of curves leads to lower speed on the straight sections between curves.”
There were similar findings in a paper published by the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention.
Writing on the findings, Michael Brenneis from the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison concluded that drivers lose focus on straight roads.
“Drivers may slow down and pay more attention on curvy roads than they would on straighter roads with more infrequent curves,” he said.
But ultimately, it’s down to the drivers to take necessary precautions, whether that’s taking rest breaks or moderating their speed to responsible levels.
