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CuencaSun wrote:

Many Ecuadorian drivers don't have drivers' licenses or insurance -- they just get behind the wheel and go....The police are starting to enforce some of the laws, but not all.

Extremely serious if true.  Does anyone else believe that EC police are allowing unlicensed drivers without SOAT insurance to remain behind the wheel without serious penalty?

cccmedia in Quito

Maximilien wrote:

What do you think of the way people drive in Ecuador?

There are many people that take unnecessary risks. They pass very close to each other at high speeds. They pass on curves at high speed (i.e., where they could not possibly see oncoming traffic). They pass between other cars on the center lane (i.e., there is a car coming towards them (in the left lane) and they will pass on the center line between that car and the one in the right lane). They drive in and out of lanes (seemingly having a problem staying within a specific lane). They think nothing of forcing their way into a lane. Just today, I had a truck driver behind me try and pass me on the left where there was no lane and then tried to merge in front of me. Motorcycles make suicide passes all the time. Very dangerous!  My girlfriend works for the IESS hospital and tells me they see a very large number of motorcycle accidents. That is not surprising since they drive like this. The police do nothing to stop this activity. In fact, I have seen the police do the same thing. There are many that do not have any courtesy for pedestrians.

Maximilien wrote:

How different is it from your home country?

I am from Canada. There are motorcycles that do suicide passes but it is not frequent as the police enforce the law.

People passing between cars on the center line never happens. I have never seen this in all my years of driving (40 some years). People driving where there is no lane is very uncommon. It does occur but not frequently. People drive in a lane and stay in that lane except when passing. That is very consistent.

As to merging in front of another person (i.e., cutting them off), this happens in Canada but not frequently as again the police will stop it if they see it happening.

Most of the time drivers are courteous to pedestrians. It is very rare for drivers to be discourteous like this. Again the police enforce the rules.

Maximilien wrote:

Respecting the road safety rules, driving etiquette such as general courtesy, speed excess… what are the characteristics of the driving style in Ecuador?

See my comments above.

Maximilien wrote:

Share with us the difficulties one may face when driving in Ecuador: peak hours, road conditions, accident, etc. and your advice to drive safely in the country.

Road conditions are sometimes poor and usually not marked (as is done in Canada). Caution in driving in this country is well advised.

One thing that is odd, given the poor driving habits, is that there don't seem to be that many accidents. The only thing I can speculate on is that because the standard is to drive in a chaotic fashion that people pay much closer attention to watching other drivers.

All in all, it appears to me that the driving habits are very poor and dangerous and it is doubtful they take any driving lessons or if they do they certainly don't regard them as important (assuming the driving lessons are any good).

MikeGB wrote:

There are many people that take unnecessary risks. They pass very close to each other at high speeds. They pass on curves at high speed (i.e., where they could not possibly see oncoming traffic). They pass between other cars on the center lane, i.e., there is a car coming towards them (in the left lane) and they will pass on the center line between that car and the one in the right lane. They drive in and out of lanes.... They think nothing of forcing their way into a lane....Motorcycles make suicide passes all the time. Very dangerous!  My girlfriend works for the IESS hospital and tells me they see a very large number of motorcycle accidents. That is not surprising since they drive like this. The police do nothing to stop this activity.

Paying attention, Nards?  This is exactly why I don't support people getting a motorcycle license in Ecuador.

Great post, Mike.

cccmedia in Quito

jessekimmerling wrote:

Driving in Ecuador is better than driving in Afghanistan...

Talk about 'damning with faint praise,' Jesse!

jessekimmerling wrote:

I  Hwy 101 in Oregon/Washington, and the old Catalonian smugglers route between Eastern Spain and France as one of the best drives in the world... in my opinion.

YES  on Hwy 101 in convertible sports car with what us old folks used to call a "standard" transmission once the RV's have gone home for the summer. I don't even begrudge it to the Harley's so loud they could wake the dead

journeymanjack wrote:

If you have a serious enough accident where one of your passengers or the other car's passengers are injured, or if there is significant property damage, the driver will go to jail and the vehicle will be impounded, until restitution is made for property damage, clinic / hospital & Dr.'s are paid in full.

The time in jail can sometimes be 3 - 4 days or 3 - 4 weeks, and this is with proper license & full coverage insurance.  (and it is All Ways the Gringo Fault for the auto accident, normally speaking:)

--“Every day on Ecuador's Road System 13 people are killed and 152 injured"--
Journeyman Jack in Ecuador 15 JAN 2015:

I hear this referenced frequently, but does anyone know of any gringo that has actually befallen this fate?

AMDG wrote:

it is not uncommon in Samborodon to have a car following riders on bicycles for protection…….

And Sambo is supposedly the "best" section of Guayaquil ! 

cccmedia in Quito

Fireymom wrote:

I was wondering if it's the law to wear a bike helmet in Cuenca Ecuador?

Are we talking now about motorbikes or still about kids on bicycles?

If you still don't find what you need here on the Ecuador forum, be aware that this blog has a Cuenca forum.  Type the words Cuenca forum into the searchbox atop this page and you'll be on your way to meeting Nards Barley and the Cuenca cognoscenti.

cccmedia in Quito

Why Second Passport lost his taste

for roadtripping around Ecuador.

Mr. Second Passport, the

Cleveland-to-Ecuador Expat, used to

love driving the roads of La República,

enjoying the scenery of mountains,

jungles and coastline.

Not any more.

On a trip up and down the coast in

his car last month, Passport didn't pay

close attention to his odometer, and it

cost him.

After the trip, he was notified by mail

that he had exceeded the speed limit

three times, as recorded by roadside

cameras.

Each infraction is costing him $127,

for a total of $381 in fines.

---

At YouTube.com ...

  mr second passport no longer fun

     to roadtrip around ecuador