<< Back

Driving In Lima
By Jim Rudolph

Editors Note: This is a recent letter on expatperu.com regarding driving in Peru. I thought that this response provided much to think about as we experience traffic in Lima.

“…I feel compelled to tell you, however, that 90% of the horn honking in the streets of Lima is from cabs and micros that are looking to gain the attention of prospective customers. So while in the streets of Lima it is best to put cotton in your ears, put the radio/MP3 on high volume, and/or turn off your hearing aide in an effort to just ignore the horn honking. I know it can take a few years of practice to learn this skill.

You've inspired me to dig into my 20 years of experience driving in Lima to write 10 more Peruvian Rules of the Road:

1. Ignore all horns unless you are looking for a ride.
   
2. To make a right turn, NEVER get in the right lane. Rather, get around all the micros and honk your horn at them so they know you are turning right in front of them.
   
3. To make a left turn, don't get in a congested left lane unless you enjoy waiting through 2 or 3 traffic signals. Rather, get around all left-turners and make another row on their right side. No need to honk here.
   
4. NEVER use turn signals, lest someone behind you take advantage of knowing what you are about to do.
   
5. Pedestrians can be a real problem, especially at night when they may have been drinking. General rule is to honk at pedestrians so they get out of the way. If they don't respond, they may be drunk, so you may have to resort to slowing down and proceeding with caution.
   
6. Forget the parallel parking you may have learned before. Here we learn to drive straight into parking spaces in a forward gear, as traffic congestion makes backing up on city streets virtually impossible. Not to mention that a parallel parker, while trying to back-up, will usually lose the space to a skilled "front-in" parker.
   
7. NEVER stop for a yellow (amber) light, lest you get rear-ended. In Peru, a yellow light generally means "hurry up before you are forced to stop." Exception: cabs and micros often (but not always) consider yellow to be "slow down and look for a fare."
   
8. You may proceed with caution in the first couple of seconds of a red light, but be sure to first look for possible police presence nearby.
   
9. NEVER go as soon as a red light turns green, lest you have an unhappy encounter with another driver practicing rule # 8.
   
10. And finally, don't forget: stopping at red lights is optional on Sundays and holidays.

I hope these - and other rules that other experienced drivers on this list may also wish to contribute - will prove useful to Sarah and other expats who are brave enough to get behind the wheel in Lima."

<< Back