Obrovac, the Zrmanja canyon and the D27 through Benkovac

Most drivers meet this road on a bad day. When the wind shuts the motorway crossing, traffic that expected three lanes is diverted onto two, through a canyon and a string of villages, and the volume arrives all at once.

What defines this road

The D27 runs 96.9 kilometres from Gračac in southern Lika down to the D8 in central Dalmatia, passing Obrovac and Benkovac and meeting the A1 at the Benkovac interchange. Along the way it joins the D50, the D54 at Zaton Obrovački, the D502 at Donji Karin, the D503 at Zapužane and the D59 further south.

Obrovac itself sits in the canyon of the Zrmanja, about eleven kilometres upstream from where the river reaches the sea. The municipality has 4323 residents across 353.0 square kilometres, the town 3453, on an urban area of just 1.2 square kilometres. It held 13 498 people in 1971, and the difference explains the empty houses along the road.

Its real function is as a reserve. When strong bora closes the motorway bridges at Maslenica, this is where the traffic goes. That is worth knowing before the journey, because the diversion is announced at short notice and the road it sends you onto is a different kind of road entirely.

The damage patterns of this road

Diverted motorway traffic on a two-lane road. Overtaking on short straights, queues behind slow vehicles and drivers working to a schedule that no longer fits. Contact is typically front corner to rear quarter, and the marks run at an angle that does not match ordinary local traffic.

Wind where the canyon opens. The gusts that close the bridges do not stop at the bridges. High-sided vehicles, caravans and roof boxes are pushed sideways at the points where the shelter of the canyon ends, and the resulting damage sits on the upwind side with no other vehicle involved.

Descents, bends and rockfall. The road drops into and climbs out of the canyon in a series of bends with rock on one side and little verge. Stones on the carriageway and damage to wheels, suspension and underbody are the routine findings, and the road surface that caused them is cleared within hours.

What to do and where the vehicle gets seen

Record the place so a stranger could find it again: road number and direction, the nearest village sign or junction, and the time. On a long inland road with few landmarks this is worth more than it sounds, and it also fixes whether the diversion was in force.

If wind was involved, photograph the surroundings as well as the vehicle. Whether the section was exposed or sheltered is part of the finding, and nobody can reconstruct it from a close-up of a dented panel taken a week later.

We come to the vehicle. Inspections here are normally arranged within one to two days, and vehicles usually wait either in Obrovac, in Benkovac or nearer the coast, depending on where the recovery took them.

Frequently asked questions

The motorway was closed and I was diverted onto this road, then had a collision.

Note that the diversion was in force, with the time, because it explains both the traffic volume and the unfamiliarity of everyone on the road. Then the usual record: wide shots before the vehicles are moved, the contact areas, and the road number with direction.

Wind pushed the car across the line and there was no other vehicle.

That is a single-vehicle event and it is documented differently. Photograph the exposed section itself, not only the damage, and record the time. Whether the stretch was sheltered by the canyon or open to the gusts is part of what the finding rests on.

A stone off the rock face damaged the underbody. Is it worth pursuing?

It is worth documenting properly first, because the extent is rarely visible from outside and shows up on a lift. Photograph the stone and the surface where it lay before anything is cleared, since the road is usually swept within hours of a report.