Traffic Regulations in Argentina
Tips on Traffic Rules and Traffic Conduct on Argentinian Roads
Aug 12, 2009
Travel by car in Argentina is easy and a joy – especially as soon as the traveller has left the urban areas of Buenos Aires. Argentina has lots of space, with untamed wilderness and wildlife and, outside the cities, little traffic. But in Argentina are not the traffic rules of Europe and it is advisable to be informed on the official and unofficial traffic regulations before starting out on a journey by car.
Traffic Regulations – Car Lights and Traffic Lights
- Outside urban areas driving with headlights switched on during the day is mandatory, as is wearing a seatbelt [which doesn't mean that everybody obeys these rules]. These traffic rules are seriously enforced by the traffic police, who are visibly present on all national roads.
- Be alert to cars turning, even if no turn signal is used – the latter device seems to have a decorative function more than anything else. Don't expect drivers to understand, and thus react to, your turn signal – they may just as easily interpret it as a light not functioning properly.
- A basic traffic rule is to stop at red lights. The main exception may be the dimly lit areas in large cities. In some suburbs around for example Buenos Aires it is better not to stop at all at night and to keep the doors locked.
- Turning left is hardly ever allowed, not even at traffic lights. When this is the case, drive one block further, make three right turns [one-way streets permitting] to get back to the original intersection and go straight across.
Traffic Regulations – Streets and Right of Way
The majority of streets in urban areas are one-way streets. In many cases this is indicated by road signs. If not, look how other cars are parked.
On double-lane roads, Argentinians have no sense to stay in the right-hand lane as much as possible. Like Argentinians, a foreigner can drive wherever he wants, but don't be surprised to be honked at when doing so. Honking is in general done out of anger or irritation and usually entirely unrelated to a situation being dangerous or not.
Being fast and/or big means having the right of way, even though the official traffic rule says that someone coming from the right has right of way.
Traffic Regulations – Speed Limit and Road Signs
Within 500 metres speed limit signs may change from for example 40 to 80, to 40, to 60 – probably the result of signs having been added and old ones not having been removed. It is not uncommon to see a sign indicating a maximum speed of 40, and subsequently never to see a sign indicating the end of this restriction.
The same goes for other restrictions [there may be a sign "don't overtake", never to be followed by a sign ending this restriction]. Obeying the traffic regulations in these cases comes largely down to a lucky interpretation of which sign applies when – and to how the traffic police interpret it.
The best, but least favourite, speed restrictions are the "lomada" or "loma", of which there is a spate in and around hamlets, towns and cities. The construction of speed bumps [sometimes painted yellow, sometimes colourless and more or less invisible in the shade of trees] is big business in Argentina; subsequently putting up a warning sign is not. One can count on speed bumps when entering or exiting a city or village.
Traffic Regulations – Overtaking and Breakdown
A continuous line on the road has no meaning – Argentinians overtake whenever they want. This includes police officers. Nevertheless, when caught by traffic police, the fine may be steep.
Even though carrying two warning triangles is mandatory, the majority of Argentinians put some rocks or branches on the road to indicate a car with a breakdown. Don't expect cars with a breakdown to park on the side of the road – to Argentinians the middle of the road is just as safe. For your own safety, slow down.
Unwritten Traffic Rules in Rural Areas of Argentina
- No official traffic regulation, but more a gentlemen's agreement in Argentina [and Chile] is the motorist's behaviour on "ripio", unpaved roads. In case of oncoming traffic, or a car wanting to overtake, slow down and drive as much on the edge of the road as possible. This way both parties avoid flying stones shattering a windshield.
- In mountainous areas it is common to honk the horn when approaching a curve.
- A car coming uphill officially has right of way but this seems to be a rule unknown to most drivers.
Whereas in Argentina people do not necessarily drive faster than Europeans or North Americans, their conduct takes some time to adjust to. In most cases, the driver adjusts quickly enough and soon enjoys Argentina's magic countryside and wildlife. A proper road map or insight in Argentina's national holidays [to know when public life closes down] may make a journey by car in Argentina even more joyous.
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