Travel is designed to relax us, but it can also boost our stress levels—especially where car rentals are involved.
I recently survived a trip to Sicily. As someone who has been a passenger princess on multiple continents, I can tell you that no place scared me like this Mediterranean island.
I have driven on tiny rural roads in Norway, battling big-rig drivers.
I have faced the terror of forgetting which side of the road is the ‘correct’ side in India.
I have had my pinky toe crushed on a moto in Vietnam.
I have gone on ill-advised road trips with poorly decorated camper-vans in Australia. (This one had graffiti of a rabid Ronald McDonald wielding french fries with a quote saying ‘if you loved me, you’d eat that’.)
Respectfully, the road between Siracusa and Catania in Sicily was like Mad Max: Fury Road, except with more hand gestures.
It made me think more deeply about driving in foreign countries.
When we get behind the wheel abroad, not only do we need to learn the actual rules of the road—including deciphering road signs and knowing when to yield—but we also need to pick up on dozens of unwritten rules.
Like in India, if you’re not planning on stopping while going through an intersection, give a little honk. Or, like in Spain, knowing how close you’re allowed to get to pedestrians without inciting a brawl.
From the unspoken etiquette to the hard rules of the road, there’s a lot that drivers need to think about when driving in another country. And that can be tough to keep track of—especially when driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.
Wanna know the short-and-quick of it? I’ve done a bit of research into the most dangerous countries in the world for drivers, including tourists.
The metrics used in my rankings are based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Road Safety Report, which takes into account things like speed limits and data on road fatalities, the World Bank’s Traffic Injury Deaths report, and The Swiftest’s Travel Safety Index report.
Most dangerous countries for drivers
Based on the number of road traffic deaths per 100,000 residents per year, the most dangerous countries to drive in are:
- Dominican Republic: 64.4 deaths
- Thailand, 32.2 deaths
- Vietnam, 30.6 deaths
- Saudi Arabia, 35.9 deaths
- Malaysia, 22.5 deaths
- South Africa, 22.2 deaths
Watch out in these countries, too. They also rank highly on the traffic index score, which relates to efficacy of traffic infrastructure (ie good roads, speed limits, etc.):
- Peru
- Lebanon
- India
Safest countries for drivers
Don’t let all the road deaths get you down. As outlined above, I’ve driven in a handful of countries and haven’t faced any major issues.
In terms of overall number of traffic-related deaths and traffic infrastructure quality, these countries come out ahead:
- Japan (often regarded as the safest place in the world to drive)
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Japan
- Spain
- Portugal
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Germany