Chile Forum

I´m convinced the Chilean driver has no concept of merging on/off a freeway. When merging onto the freeway, there is no need to come to complete stop. Just be carefull and ease out into traffic with your turn signal on in the right direction. If you are merging off the freeway, take notice of the cars making their way onto it. You do not always have to be in first place..which translates to you can let the car merging on ahead off you since you will need to slow down anyway if you want to actually make the turn coming up without screeching the tires! How about some courtesy knuckleheads!

You'll get a similar feeling on the sidewalk. Latin cultures lack a sense of "flow", probably because they don't value time as much.

otravers wrote:. . . . Latin cultures lack a sense of "flow", probably because they don't value time as much.

I've the feelling that other factors, too, contribute: no emphasis upon autonomy and scant emphasis upon individual responsibility, for example.

There is no real driver's code here, that is clear. Interestingly there is a small unintentional movement for driving manners in parking garages to let one person waiting in a traffic line out and then you go. Try it, it's hilarious. You will see that everyone waiting to get out is ignoring others in their churches of ego and basically spite mongering their way out (much like in parking garages everywhere in the world). Go ahead and let one person in front of you...wave 'em on. Then look in your rear view mirror for what happens next. Others do the same. I was totally shocked the first time I saw this! It wasn't Christmas, Fiestas Patrias or any other "feel good" time of year, so, perhaps, it was pure social guilt that drove this behavior. Although I'm hoping this is the start of a friendly wink and a nod of respect for other sentient creatures in Chile. I'm still dreaming as you'll be hard pressed to even find latent respect in your local Lider or Unimarc. Social accountability most likely will only be had in a face-to-face situation where it is guilted to completion, not on the Formula-1 turn buckles of Santiago's open road course.

I have to say that drivers around here seem to have no regard for the speed limit, red lights, pedestrian crossings or other cars at all!!!. I was side swiped by a truck on only the 3rd or 4th time of driving here (he never stopped and was taking the corner way to wide and crossed into my lane- I was already on the turn, in a rental car). I have seen so many people run the red lights and in a 60 zone people rarely do the speed limit. BUT pedestrians seem to be leaving themselves open to being hit- crossing the road not on a pedestrian crossing or at lights when the red man is lit. I wait and only cross with the green man (teaching my daughter the right way and my own safety) although even doing this does not mean that traffic will stop. I think the thing with driving here is being extremely aware of everyone else around you.

Heads up, the Carabineros are using laser to tag drivers. I brought a laser/radar detector down this trip, after I got stopped near Melipilla in Dec. The limit went from 120kph to 80 in the space of 200 metres and as I was flagged down on the 78, (rental car) I realized my lights were off. The guy was fairly bubbling as he grinned and described the two infractions and took my rental papers. His smile evaporated as I passed him an Az driving license. Long story short, no ticket, I got a talking to but it was I who drove away with the grin.
Fast fwd to this trip, I am driving my own pickup, so no excuses. I thought I'd better bring down a radar detector to spot Boss Hawg sitting by the side of the road waiting for The General . In Chile I don't drive that fast, but after the last experience, thought I should have an edge.
I was on the 76 coming back from Vina today in a road works zone. The "laser" warning lit up and I swept the unit off the dash onto the seat. About 250m further on, a very alert looking guy was enjoying himself with his toy. You can tell the difference by how they handle the units. The laser unit must be manually aimed at the oncoming vehicle but it gives an instant reading, no time to slow down. Most Carabineros are using the fixed "drive by" units in the rear windows of their cars to just catch the unwary driver as he approaches.
In this instance, because of the road works, I had slowed enough that I was uninteresting. Someone else on this forum might not have been so lucky.

xxx

i drive my car without a problem every day, i live in la Reina alto, probably here we don't have that kind of traffic than down there..."

I'm surprised that throughout this whole thread no one has mentioned a peculiar habit that drivers have (at least in the south).

A driver who wishes to turn left off of a two lane highway will signal to turn left, pull over to the right shoulder and let all of the traffic behind pass, before completing their turn.

There is nothing in the Chilean traffic laws to support this, however, if you do what is common in North America and signal to turn left, slow down (or stop) in the traveled lane and someone is behind you one of two things will happen:
1) They will pull out to pass you, or
2) They will lean on their horn and let you have a blast.

What makes this particularly dangerous is a case where one car will actually slow down and stop behind the turning vehicle and another vehicle coming along behind them will pull out to pass and run the risk of rear-ending the turning car.

Because I usually have to make a left turn off of a traveled highway, I've formed a habit of slowing down long before my turning point to "force" impatient drivers to pass me before I get there. The only problem with this is that there are also timid drivers who refuse to pass even if I go down to 60 kms.

So when you're driving in Chile you not only have to look out where you're going, you also have to worry about the vehicles behind you too!

Seems standard here that if you signal to turn left...99% of the time anyone behind you will attempt to pass you on your left. First time it happened I thought it was a fluke. When it happened again and again it became obvious that drivers here seem to have no clue of road rules, common sense, etc. When one is turning left you NEVER, EVER pass them on the left. Not rocket science here. I would guess that people began to pull off to the right to avoid being struck on the driver's side when the driver(s) behind them pull this stunt. Survival tactic. As to the original question...'can anyone actually drive in Chile?...that is debatable for certain. I have just learned to drive SUPER defensively, far more than I EVER did in the US. It has taken all the joy out of driving for me and makes driving a big drain on ALL levels sadly.

Something else that actually causes accidents is the incredible progress made in the automobiles themselves. Cars today are incredibly quick, steer like race cars and stop on a dime compared to vehicles of 40 years ago. We developed ABS brakes so we could follow closer, seatbelts and airbags so we could be safer so we drive more recklessly. Advertising sells us race cars and we drive like race car drivers. The cities are worse because we all become frantic over schedules and the offenses we commit vary with the traffic in front of us. The road-race deteriorates to road-rage. Male egos suffer the most. I believe the problem is world wide. Some unlikely countries like Israel have the highest death rates in the world. It's all very sad. At my age the best defense is to go slower and let the other drivers figure it out. I'm content with the honking and gestures all around me because I'm what they call "an old coot!"

jaxhere wrote:I'm surprised that throughout this whole thread no one has mentioned a peculiar habit that drivers have (at least in the south).

A driver who wishes to turn left off of a two lane highway will signal to turn left, pull over to the right shoulder and let all of the traffic behind pass, before completing their turn.

There is nothing in the Chilean traffic laws to support this, however, if you do what is common in North America and signal to turn left, slow down (or stop) in the traveled lane and someone is behind you one of two things will happen:
1) They will pull out to pass you, or
2) They will lean on their horn and let you have a blast.

What makes this particularly dangerous is a case where one car will actually slow down and stop behind the turning vehicle and another vehicle coming along behind them will pull out to pass and run the risk of rear-ending the turning car.

Because I usually have to make a left turn off of a traveled highway, I've formed a habit of slowing down long before my turning point to "force" impatient drivers to pass me before I get there. The only problem with this is that there are also timid drivers who refuse to pass even if I go down to 60 kms.

So when you're driving in Chile you not only have to look out where you're going, you also have to worry about the vehicles behind you too!

omigod there are a lot of peculiar habits in the south of Chile, you have to realize this one barely merits mention

But, more seriously, the pull over to the right and indicate left thing is Spanish, though even there intersections where this is needed are signposted. There are monumental accidents every summer in Spain between tourists unexpectedly "parked" in the middle of the intersection, and locals "happening" on them at high speed. I have no idea how this concept made its way to Chile, it's certainly not part of the Chilean rules of the road, which state:

"2.- Viraje a la izquierda: para efectuar un viraje a
la izquierda desde una vía de doble tránsito hacia
otra vía de doble tránsito, el vehículo deberá
aproximarse al costado derecho del eje o de la línea
central de la vía por donde transita y, después de
pasar la intersección, deberá entrar a la otra vía,
tomando el lado derecho de su eje o de la línea
central"

[i.e. basically to turn left on a 2-way road you approach the intersection close to the central median and turn left]

For what it's worth I asked the Chilean Automobile Club some time back if they had a convenient reference to the rules of the road. I was hoping for some kind of handbook; they kindly sent me this: http://www.subtrans.cl/subtrans/documen ... ativa.html - not exactly convenient, but if you take the patience to wade through the first link "Ley de Tránsito 18.290" you'll probably see how drivers should behave.

BTW, this is not the only peculiarity in the south regarding left turns: if the intersection is controlled by a traffic light with a green "left arrow" phase, you might find Chilean drivers refuse to turn until their arrow turns green, even though the general green light allows turning if safe.

Generally you have to drive extremely defensively, and as you say, worry most about vehicles behind you. I'd suggest you place your own vehicle where it will cause the maximum inconvenience for anyone trying to overtake / undertake you, for your own safety.