Driving in Uruguay

A report today on traffic accidents here shows one death every 17 hours on the roads and 88 injuries per day. 40% of the deaths occur between 8.00 pm Friday and 8.00 am Monday. Drinking and driving laws are strict here - you are allowed a reading of 0% . If you show you have been drinking then your insurance will not pay for damage. In all the accidents, 92.8% showed no alcohol on spirometry so that is not the main reason.

Cars have only become affordable to the average person in the last ten years or so and the inexperience of many drivers shows. I have seen casual disregard for rules of the road, motorbikes with three or more passengers, loads not tied down in trucks properly,

Many of the roads need repair and people are driving too fast for the conditions. There are also a number of pedestrians killed trying to cross the street or walking along a highway.

Hi there. I avoid driving in Uruguay as much as possible because they're completely nuts. Somehow a two or three lane St. magically has six lanes of cars. There is absolutely no courtesy when it comes to driving. Drivers  pass on the left, rarely use signal lights, jump red lights a lot, which is my biggest pet peeve. Honestly it is a zoo. The motorcycles are the worst. They will zigzag between cars and basically just drive like idiots. There are at least two motorcyclist killed per day here minimum. My advice: walk  A lot. Take a cab, although they are little pricey now and taxi drivers are also  pretty lousy drivers. You can also take the bus, all the bus drivers not exactly great either, but the buses are a lot bigger so you'll probably be safer in a bus rather than driving beside one.

I enjoy driving here although it took a bit of getting used to. Off course I once enjoyed driving around LAX in a limo.

Put on the head lights outside of cities.

Bold, wide stripes across a crosswalk is one of the few laws generally observed and they mean that pedestrians have the right of way there -- but tourists may not know that so be careful walking.

Speed berms on roads will *usually* be painted and have a street sign pointing at them. The sign may be obsured by kid's tagging.

Always look both ways even when crossing one way streets -- people take short cuts with bikes, motor cycles, and sometimes cars. Sometimes that shortcut travel is a motorcycle up a sidewalk.

Traffic lights may be turned off during slow periods so don't assume that because it was off last time it will be next time. Traffic lights are usually obeyed by drivers but not pedestrians.

Relax.

Stop signs usually mean caution and sometimes not even that.

Make sure you have insuance.

Cars older than 1980 don't need to be registered every year and don't have outrageous tarrifs or taxes on transfer; I own a 1971 Mercedes 220D --ugly but very comfortable and mechanically sound. My auto insurance tripppled (grin) last year, it's now up to ten dollars a month.

Lower your expectations. Drivers here don't live in fear of cops but are only usually cautious about other drivers.

I had an uncle in Texas who wouldn't stop for the signal in the middle of town because he had been there before the sign. Folks in that small town watched out for him. He would have fit fine in Uruguay.

Enjoy.

Driving in UY is pretty courteous. More than most countries. Highway driving is super slow.  50 or 60k tops most of the way from Montevideo to Punta del Este. So obviously it's pretty safe too. Highways are good.

Ha, ha.  Wait till the Argentines come back in the summer.  They will fly by you at 120K on their way to Punta del Este especially all weekend.

We have difficulty crossing the highway or even getting onto it at times due to the solid stream of traffic whizzing by at high speed from December to the end of February on the IB.

I know this is just a seed question from someone who has never been to Uruguay and has no intention of coming to Uruguay, but for people from the north the drivers here are startlingly bad. However, the lack of situational awareness that strands you in the supermarket between two customers blocking one end of an aisle to converse, while a store employee blocks the other end, stocking shelves during the busiest time, extends to All Things Road, not just drivers.

When you drive here, you have to constantly ask yourself, "what is the stupidest thing this person could do?" and drive accordingly. "This person" refers to everyone behind a wheel, on a motorcycle, bicycle, horse, or on foot. On the highway, it's not unusual for a pedestrian to walk into the left lane while you're approaching in the right lane at 100 kph. Because you're in the right lane: no concept that you might have to suddenly change lanes. They have no idea what's in front of you, because they're looking behind you. In front of you, a vehicle might lunge in from the right, or a child step into the street (having been taught to "look no ways before crossing"), or a vehicle with no brake lights might slow or stop with no warning. In which case that pedestrian is unavoidably in your path, and you're going to jail when you run him over.

One of my closest calls came a very dark rainy night, on an unlit and pretty empty stretch of the interbalnearia, when suddenly a motorbike with a trailer and no tail light appeared in my headlights, going perhaps half my speed. Fortunately only halfway in the lane, so easy to avoid. With all of two seconds' notice.