World’s Most Dangerous Roads | Eastern Europe: The Adriatic Highway | Free Documentary

[Music] the adriatic highway a kilometer long road set against breathtaking scenery the highway is one of the most fascinating roads in the mediterranean it attracts many visitors and beguiles them a road of dreams that can turn into a [Music] nightmare has driven regularly on the adriatic highway since he was a boy for him this road is still a challenge and also an adventure at the same time shellco loves the highway but also has huge respect for it i've driven on this road countless times but it always feels like the first time because it's always so unpredictable sometimes straight sometimes winding and that's exactly what makes it so appealing and as for the beauty of the landscape it's indescribable [Applause] the adriatic highway is one of the most beautiful roads in the world this technical masterpiece was built in the 1960s in the former yugoslavia the road begins just after trieste and first travels through slovenia over half of its 1200 kilometer length is in croatia around naom nine kilometers of bosnia and herzegovina are squeezed in between south of dubrovnik another 125 kilometers stretch into montenegro the highway is still the major artery for adriatic tourism in all four countries shelco's journey on the adriatic highway begins in the north in surrey venita he himself lives in the south where he grows figs mandarins and olives he processes the fruits at his family-run business making them into jam marmalade honey and the cure in traditional old ways he wants to try to sell his products at selected specialty shops in the tourist hubs along the highway hello i'm jelco hello pleased to meet you we spoke on the phone about my products i'm a bit late the road was very busy it's all handmade fakes and mandarins are processed mainly in the south shelco hopes he can attract interest for his specialty products in the north from srinitsa the journey continues southwards just after senior shelco will face the most winding part of the highway for 70 kilometers it winds in tight serpentine bends around the velifit mountains patience and care are required here [Music] is i think the engineers made a big mistake in planning these bends some of them are built so that their incline is how can i say just the wrong way around however quickly or slowly you drive into a bend like that it always pushes you out now we're driving into one of these exact bends and it always pushes us out of the left now it's pushing me out this part of the highway is also known for the bora which can sometimes blow with a strength of up to even 160 kilometers per hour particularly in autumn and winter cars can be blown right off the road by the borough's fierce gusts of wind so this section gets closed off for vehicles in strong winds [Music] many car drivers would gladly do without these serpentine bends but motorcyclists come from all over the world especially for them tight bends in a unique landscape an el dorado for every motorbike fan for yura mishkulin it's his home stretch which he visits when he needs quiet and time to himself as a bus driver he also spends his time on the highway through his job yuri loves the adventure of this road if only there weren't all the irresponsible drivers i'm pleased that tourists like to come here we depend on tourism so as long as there are tourists things are good for us but they should be more careful many of them don't take enough care and drive at 50 60 kilometers per hour then see something pretty and stop without looking to see if anyone is behind them and turn around where they aren't allowed to putting themselves and others in danger considering the beautiful scenery and its picture-perfect scenes you can understand why people so often stop without thinking and everyone who has ever driven on the highway quickly forgets anything unpleasant and raves only about its charm most tourists keep coming back hungry for adventure street [Music] it's hot unbearably hot today and i'm slowly getting tired i feel totally sick thinking about how much more driving i have to do meanwhile has left the winding road behind him and he's getting closer to the town of shibanik on a straight part of the highway [Music] experienced highway drivers know all too well that stretches like this are not at all relaxing quite the opposite the rare opportunities to overtake are used here all too often for risky maneuvers an alert glance in the wing mirror can be life-saving it's very difficult to drive here it's quite demanding it might be a straight stretch but as soon as the white line is interrupted drivers start tailgating behind me impatiently awaiting any opportunity to overtake and then they race off like crazy the biggest problem on this road is this speeding the risky overtaking maneuvers and of course the recklessness of some drivers between 1995 and 2010 30 000 people lost their lives on croatian roads almost half of them on this highway alone [Music] at least the police here are very much in evidence they carry out regular speed checks and alcohol tests at certain sections where drivers like to step on the gas as soon as police cars are visible drivers immediately slow down and take more care [Music] most accidents happen because of using inappropriate speed the problem with foreign tourists is also that they can't drive on our roads they're just used to motorways where the bends are very gentle and manageable so you can drive much faster it's often minor traffic offenses that can have tragic consequences making phone calls whilst driving and turning without looking have cost people their lives [Applause] i saw both arrows and thought it was allowed the two most common causes of traffic accidents are disregarding the right of way and unlawful this lady turned here from right to left across the solid line that is not allowed that often leads to serious accidents drivers are observed particularly closely the police patrol has just found a repeat offender whose driving license they have already taken away twice due to drink driving police officers risk their own lives in car chases on the highway today they don't have to race the offender gives up quickly everything's fine the driver's alcohol test shows no alcohol content in his breath and the data check shows that he has had his driving license back for a week hello oh no not now it's so hot and i can't right now how far is it where are you exactly say where you are there's a lot of traffic here i'm on the bridge now okay okay okay the shibanik bridge is not only a popular place for a photo opportunity it also offers the very brave a special kind of kick all right i'll be there in 10-15 minutes okay all right my name is your first time [Music] okay [Music] has no time to stay dalibor his son-in-law has asked him to pick him up from the kirka waterfalls and take him home dalibor took a trip with his friends but has to leave early jelgo didn't need to be convinced it's rare that he gets the opportunity to make a detour across the nature park the area is famous thanks to the cowboy movies that were filmed here [Music] how was it in sleek venicer don't ask did you sell anything hardly anything from the kirka waterfalls back to chibanik the highway circles around the old baroque town in tight bands one of them is named after the owner of the house many cars are hurtled into where trucks have crashed down into people's gardens and living rooms it's been made a bit safer but i still find it eerie i always drive more slowly here so i don't fly out there have been fewer accidents since a protected battery was put in place around the band but miroslav militic still shivers every time he hears brakes squeal my kitchen is down there 10 meters away this is where a truck flew off the bend several years ago and tumbled down here there was a pile of gravel there at the time that the driver's cabin landed into thank goodness the end of the truck was around here and the end wheels of the trailer were still up on the highway [Music] anita kokolo has also witnessed quite a lot here but accidents were a part of her everyday life as a child there really have been a lot of accidents here we heard the clutter the screams i saw the injured people lying in pools of blood it was terrible [Music] [Music] [Music] continuing southwards the highway runs through many small villages like a tightly stretched band there's a lot of congestion in summer when the tourists arrive i have to get back soon to get to an event i'll never get there like this sitting in a traffic jam at 40 degrees is stressful and exhausting it doesn't even get any better when you leave the highway and go into the towns there are too many cars moving on streets that are far too narrow and so gelco is also late for his next meeting for this trip he has only selected a few shops first he wants to test the chances for his business idea just before split nothing is moving on the adriatic highway it's hopelessly overcrowded streams of tourists come upon tense locals who want to get moving quickly just like maritza bialobrik who runs a small grocery shop in cash de luxe near split she drives along the stretch several times a day with deliveries did you just see who came shooting out from a side street there side streets join onto the highway all over that is a big problem it's supposed to be a fast road so there can't be a crossing every few meters you have to be permanently on edge you never know when someone will suddenly turn in from the side [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the road tempts you to drive quickly in the places where it's well constructed car drivers can easily forget that there are houses fields and schools along here and that side streets joined the road many people have lost their lives here including many children so desperate parents were searching for a safe way for their children to cross the road they found a solution for andrea and his schoolmates underneath the road in a rainwater pipe [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] this road is very dangerous in the past when there wasn't this ladder to the pipe someone always had to accompany us across the street our parents were always worried about us because children had been killed here on their way to school sometimes it takes half an hour until you can get across now with the ladder our parents are reassured they know that we can cross safely and now they let us go everywhere alone it isn't particularly pleasant in the pipe there are snakes and rats but it's still better than walking across the highway it's unbelievable this road here isn't normal so much traffic such hustle and bustle it's unbelievable [Music] i don't want to live here it must be one of the most dangerous places in croatia when i think about how many people have lost their lives here hopefully it'll get better when the new section is finished maybe it's not good here in order to make the highway safer there is constant construction work even in high season it's being improved in many places its tight bends are being straightened and the surface is being repaired in some places the road is built on such a slant into the hillside that in heavy rainfall it gets filled up and washed away by mudslides people are doing piece rate work in unbearable heat [Music] when this road was built in the 1960s it was an unimaginable feat of human muscle power today the highway is still considered to be a great technical masterpiece engineer zdravko radozic was involved in its planning and supervision from the very beginning the construction was an unbelievable technical challenge it was only when we received machinery from the americans that it progressed more quickly until then we'd worked meter by meter over months and years mostly using our bare hands alone it was an incredible act of strength it was all just rocks and woodland here before look where the rock was cut away here thousands of cubic meters of stone had to be carried away with bare hands but with the machinery everything ran much more quickly people from all over yugoslavia worked on the highway nobody asked if you were bosnian croatian or serbian we all stuck together anyone would have given their life for someone else a great friendship united us that unfortunately no longer exists these days [Music] the sellers still hope to do good business in the evening the sweet fruit from the neretva delta is known throughout the whole of croatia under abundant sunshine the fruit ripens in fertile soil shellco is back home his wife is already waiting for him at her stall hello how are you fine how was it difficult it was hot and busy there was a huge traffic jam between split and makaskar it's unbelievable how some people speed and overtake [Music] today's journey is almost over for gelco and alibaba but the highway won't be quiet for a while yet even at night the traffic continues to move ceaselessly people are driving to the many clubs and bars along the road and some sparkling nights end in a roadside ditch the next morning jelco and dalibar load up the estate car to continue the journey towards dubrovnik here i am put it in there is everything ready yep so i can go yes drive slowly be careful and take care of yourself all right [Music] they drive crazily here people speed and overtake when my wife is at the stand i'm always scared that someone could run her over it has happened before that drivers have tried to get past other cars and have sped into the fruit stalls and flattened everything you risk your life even just standing next to the road [Music] accidents on the straight parts of the road usually end up being the deadliest as it's tempting to drive fast there it's often young people who are killed often it's down to alcohol stopping them seeing clearly after nights out at the club it's the careless speeding and looking for an adrenaline kick that makes them put their own and others lives on the line [Music] christina has been driving more carefully since her best friend pero lost his life in an accident she herself also had an accident a year ago that showed her just how quickly something like that can happen [Applause] it's been a warning for me after pero died i was scared and so were our friends who drive they say that they always think of pero when they step on the gas yes it's only when someone gets killed that we really become aware of how much we're risking our lives by speeding [Music] after the fertile fields of the neretva delta the highway dips down towards the sea [Applause] [Music] from here the road is open again for trucks branislav jovanovic has been a truck driver for over 30 years he transports goods between italy and montenegro he spends a lot of time on the highway and still gets annoyed at the behavior of other drivers you need to concentrate and mustn't get distracted many drivers stick to the rules but unfortunately there are just as many who don't here because from here i have a good view of the traffic but others still overtake even though they can't see properly look here if i hadn't put the indicator on now he would have overtaken me even with this oncoming traffic here you're allowed to drive 70 so why do people have to drive 80 or 90. why since the yugoslavia war the highway has passed through four countries slovenia croatia montenegro and bosnia and nazar govinda from naom there's a seven kilometer long section that is part of bosnia and herzegovina so two border crossings interrupt the croatian coastline in close succession hello thank you goodbye it's annoying that i constantly have to show my papers when i leave my country here and travel seven kilometers back into it hopefully that won't be necessary anymore when the new bridge at name will join croatia to croatia is there are still 60 kilometers to go to dubrovnik jelco has already spent the whole journey looking forward to fresh oysters from the bay of mali stone which are famous all over the country [Music] hello hello yes please how's the traffic at the moment terrible and frightening do people always drive so fast here yes terrible aren't you scared to be here of course two days ago two people drove into each other a girl from neon there was an accident here yes by the rocks over there people always speak here convoy start forming big convoys so big that you get a headache from all the noise we've put these wide concrete bollards in place as protection as a car raced into here three years ago some people fear the dangers of the highway others see it as a challenge many tourists have the courage to cycle on the highway they want to experience the magnificent landscape with all their senses but the heat and intense traffic demand complete concentration and the rest areas are the best places to enjoy the landscape anyway even if you're on a bike has reached dubrovnik the most beautiful town of the adriatic is a tourist magnet for george bernard shaw it was even paradise on earth up on a cliff with waves lapping on three sides and surrounded by a mighty defensive wall dubrovnik continues to captivate all its visitors gelco has made contact with two shops and is hoping that its owners like his specialty products he would also like to be strolling through the narrow alleyways enjoying the grand beauty of medieval buildings but he has to keep going the highway is vital for the livelihood of people along the coast without it we would be living under the kind of standards we did 30 years ago this road has taken many lives but it has also ensured the survival of many giving them the opportunity to make a living from tourism and the foreign guests who drove on the highway were always aware of how unpredictable and dangerous it is and they came anyway just before montenegro an accident has happened some young czech tourists wanted to get back to the hotel quickly after their trip to the beach and simply turned around in front of a bend even though there was a solid line on the road the oncoming motorcycle saw them too late and couldn't avoid them miraculously he managed to avoid injury despite the severity of the collision this was one of the many operations for the police on this day they're pleased that nobody is injured and are once more astounded to see the kind of rash driving maneuvers that some drivers are capable of irresponsible drivers like these who don't stick to the rules do annoy me most accidents happen in the high season in july and august sometimes entire families lose their lives the highway leaves croatia 45 kilometers south of dubrovnik and continues through montenegro since this section is part of the well-known smuggling routes there are strict customs checks as a result there can be long delays so i'm driving through montenegro for the first time now for me it's a real adventure i don't know the road i'm also quite tired but i like it a lot here this bay is so beautiful i can hardly believe that right now i'm driving through one of the most beautiful bays in the mediterranean the bay of kotor it's so beautiful it's heavenly a real gift of nature [Music] although the customs regulations make it difficult to export his goods to montenegro shelco still wants to try he knows that many rich russian tourists go on holiday to courtois and budva two shops have already shown their interest as in croatia the highway in montenegro passes through beautiful landscapes here too this is both a travel route and a town road you need to be skilled at the wheel and have patience to drive here the highway's close proximity to the sea that makes it so attractive is also its biggest problem in some places it's built so close to the beaches and the waterfront that beach life sometimes takes place on the road itself [Applause] [Music] the highway is like a woman beautiful unpredictable seductive and somehow also irresistible she seduces you into doing stupid things and then when you least expect it she gets back at you i advise everyone who drives on the highway to have patience patience and even more patience [Music] although the new bypasses are supposed to help alleviate the strain on the highway it is still overloaded a trip along the highway simply a must for any visit to the adriatic despite all its dangers it's a unique experience to drive on one of the most beautiful roads in the world you

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, most dangerous roads Eastern Europe, deadliest roads Eastern Europe, dangerous Eastern Europe, deadliest journeys Eastern Europe, hot roads, hot roads Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, Adriatic Highway

Id: 2sCDQTY4-eM

Length: 43min 17sec (2597 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 14 2021