Driving

• Foreign driving licences are generally accepted by car rental companies and at police checkpoints, however for legal purposes foreign drivers should carry an international driving licence issued in their country of origin, with the exception of Argentinian citizens who may drive on their own national licences.
• You must always have your driving licence and the vehicle licence with you, as police checkpoints are frequent, especially on main roads and on the edge of cities.
• The use of a seatbelt is compulsory in Chile for all passengers (front and back seats).
• If you need help finding a street in a city or your route on main roads the police are always ready to provide information.
• The speed limit on motorways is 120 kph where permitted. In the city the limit is 50 kph.
• Drive on the right.

Vehicle restriction in Santiago

• In the city of Santiago there is a system known as “restricción vehicular” whereby private vehicles may not be driven on certain days, defined by the final digit of their registration plates. Failure to comply with this restriction is punishable by fines established in the traffic laws.
• Information about the vehicle restriction system in Chile.
• Visit the Traffic Control Operations Unit and see the live cameras operating in Santiago

Types of Offence

• Driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Failure to obey a red traffic light or a STOP or GIVE WAY sign, in the last case only when such failure causes an accident.
• Driving without holding the appropriate licence.
• Using the special warning equipment which may only be used by emergency vehicles: ambulances, patrol cars etc.
• Any offence considered by the judge to have been the principal cause of a traffic accident which results in slight damage or injury.

• Driving when physically or psychologically unfit to do so.
• Driving a type of vehicle other than that authorised on the driving licence.
• Overtaking another vehicle on the hard shoulder, or at a corner, bridge, tunnel, level crossing or approaching the crest of a rise.
• Allowing another person to drive your vehicle, who does not comply with the requirements to do so: age, licence, physically and psychologically fit, etc.
• Driving a vehicle without its licence plates.
• Failure to obey traffic signals or the instructions of a policeman.
• Failure to obey any other road sign.
• Failure to drive slowly when approaching or crossing a road junction, or when approaching or on a hill.
• Driving against the direction of the traffic.
• Failing to drive within marked lanes, or changing lane unexpectedly, thus obstructing another vehicle.
• Driving on the left-hand side of a two-way road or street, occupying a part or the whole of that side.
• Failure to give way to a pedestrian or another vehicle which has right of way.
• Turning where not permitted.
• Driving a vehicle with faulty brakes or steering.
• Driving without lights at times and in circumstances where these are required by law.
• Driving a vehicle with one or more of the tyres in a bad state.
• Failure to dip headlights on the main road when meeting or following another vehicle.
• Driving a vehicle which does not comply with anti-pollution legislation
• Failing to stop at a railway crossing.
• Carrying out public passenger service with a vehicle which has failed the required tests.
• Driving a taxi without a meter, when it should have one; failing to have a meter with a properly authorised seal, or having a meter adjusted so that it does not register the correct fare.
• Putting fuel in the tank of a public transport vehicle when there are passengers on board.
• Failing to have a valid insurance document for the compulsory insurance for damage caused by motor vehicles.

• Parking or stopping where prohibited.
• Driving with improper use of lights.
• Not signalling correctly before turning.
• Driving a vehicle without a silencer, or with the silencer or exhaust pipe in bad condition, or with an unauthorised exhaust pipe.
• Refusal by the driver of a public transport vehicle to carry schoolchildren.
• Having the doors of a public transport vehicle open while in motion; carrying passengers on the step or failing to stop close to the kerb when passengers are getting into or out of the vehicle.
• Damaging or altering any road sign.
• Pedestrians walking on the right-hand side of the road or crossing any road or street other than at a pedestrian crossing.