Accidental Motorist

Buenos Aires — Before arriving in Argentina over two years ago, I had been warned about driving here.  Be careful, my wife had said, they’re crazy.  Well, I replied, Baltimore drivers are crazy too.  She shook her head and smiled.

     The first thing you notice about the roads of Buenos Aires is the size.  They’re small.  Even though B.A. boasts the widest (140 meters) street in the world, the lanes (mere suggestions) of B.A.’s July 9^th Avenue are like those of a go-cart track.

     The second thing you notice is that the cars are also small and manual shifting.  Hey, I thought, taking the wheel for the first time on Argentine soil, this will be fun.  I’ve always wanted to learn how to drive stick, and a cute, little Fiat or Peugeot will be the perfect vehicle to learn it in. 

     No amount of stress, anger or avoidance training could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. 

     Irresponsibility is the name of the game; the law of the jungle the rule of the land.  If you are big, you go.  If you want to cross three lanes of traffic in less than half a block to make your turn, step on the gas.  If you don’t feel like turning on you lights at night or going the right way down a one-way street, don’t worry.   

      Though in B.A. drivers generally obey the major traffic lights, in La Plata, the city of 500,000 just 40 miles south of Capital where I live, if you happen to cross a traffic light, (there are only a few) feel lucky and then, punch it. 

     Pedestrians and cyclists are no better, and in many cases, worse.  They walk out into the middle of rush hour traffic as if they were playing a game of Frogger.  I have yet to witness a light on a bicycle at night, or any one of the ubiquitous delivery mo-peds that stopped anywhere for anything. 

     Another phenomena characteristic of Argentine drivers is what I will call the “all or nothing.”  Either you have someone driving 100 km/hr down narrow alleys, or, they drive along the same alley at 10 km/hr, clogging up traffic for miles. 

     The phenomena only gets more pronounced as one ventures out onto the national roads where impatient drivers attempt desperately to pass the sputtering, belching trucks on two lane roads at great risk to life and limb. 

     I was not surprised, therefore, when I saw this on the Clarin.com website.

     According to Clarin.com, car accident related fatalities in Argentina have grown in number for the fourth consecutive year.  In 2006, 21 people were killed each day, which came to 7,557 people for the year. 

     The overwhelming majority of the deaths occurred in the province of Buenos Aires, where approximately a third of the population of the nation resides. 

     Alberto Gasparini, an official with the Civil Association for the Fight for Life which conducted the study, said however that over the last five years, car ownership in Argentina has risen by 15 percent.  Consequently, the proportion of accidents has actually diminished.   

     The principal causes of accidents were speeding and drunk driving.

     Additionally, a shocking, (if you didn’t live here,) 44 percent of traffic victims were pedestrians.