Expat Community > Uruguay

Vortice
Joined 2016
Posts: 407

Driving in Urugauy

6 years ago

On our 2nd research trip to Uruguay we decided to rent a car so as to be able to check out the interior and because the farm we rented North of Colonia was a bit remote. We like the Multi-car rental agency, but when I pulled on to the Ruta Interbalnearia I headed East rather than West towards Colonia. I had scarcely driven 2 km when I saw a couple of cars ahead of me slowing. As we too slowed, we saw a dead mortorcycle rider sprawled in the center divider. This fatality was barely a couple minutes old and we were absolutely shocked. It had been a long flight from California and we had a substantial drive ahead of us to get to the Colonia farm rental. Adrenalin levels reduced, it was still a white knucle drive for me as I made my way around the dizzying, cramped Rambla of Montevideo then West. The drivers in MVD are as aggressive as those in LA or any other big metropolitan area, but to my view, far less skilled. Lane markers are mere suggestions if noticed at all and the turn signal lever is but a place to hang spare keys. Following distance is almost tactile and there is considerable impatience.
It has now been a year and I am going through the process of getting my Uruguayan Drivers License which will require a "practical" behind the wheel test, like I the test had to do more than 4 decades ago! (I have never caused an collision) At the mandatory defensive driving "charla", they drive home the stats that 500 people die and 30,000 are injured on the roads of Uruguay every year along with a certain amount of "Red Asphalt" video. I thought that those stats were high for a country of only 3.6 million. We do transportation planning and funding for entities in California, so I decided to compare actual stats. It turns out that Uruguay is only about 5% higher than the US average and on a par or better than some Southern States (and Wyoming). This made me feel better. There is also a concerted effort by the authorities to improve these stats through increased use of cameras and automatic citation robot radar speed "traps". There is still a shortage of Policia de Transito on the roads and I am told that, unlike the California Highway Patrol, they tend to hang out at the station rather than patrol las rutas.
Many Uruguayans, regardless of age are getting behind the wheel for the first time as car ownership is skyrocketing here. The bus system is really good here and Uruguayans are fine with doing a fair amount of walking, so cars are not as necessary as they are in suburban USA. This is where the other side of the coin comes into play; drivers who are beyond overly-cautious. They often will not venture through cross traffic though they have many hundreds of yards of clearance, as if they are incapable of judging speeds of approaching vehicles (which I think is the case). Some drive at a snails pace that may be half of the legal speed limit. Then there are the not uncommon horse drawn wagons that share the roads. Here on the rural roads one may come over a hill to find cattle being driven by horseback gauchos and their dogs which is colorful and bucolic but something to keep in mind from a safety standpoint.
This makes for an exceedingly diverse mix of road use, and while it is not what we are used to in California, it is not really that bad. It just requires a bit of adjustment, patience and the same extreme vigilance that keeps travelers safe anywhere. Note that the allowed alcohol level in drivers to avoid DUI here is ZERO!
One serious caveat: BEWARE of the Argentine tourist driver!!! They are often super fast and driving with no regard for law, courtesy or reason of any kind short of getting to Punta del Este yesterday... or sooner.

William Russell

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Driving in Urugauy

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