Driving in Rio de Janeiro
The best way to know Rio de Janeiro better, is inside a car. In order to make the duty of driving in Rio as pleasant as possible, we give you bellow some useful information.
Orientation
The public roads nowadays are in very good shape of conservation and the indications are the best among the Brazilian capitals. But, don’t trust in it that much. Schedule your ways before leaving, and carry a map. Study it previously and memorise the mainly points of reference. Rio has very good points of orientations. The beaches the mountains are going to help you. This way is difficult to get lost in Rio
Driving
With the change of the Brazilian traffic national code and it’s beginning in 1998, which changed fines and its values a radical change at the Brazilian driver’s attitude has become. Now they respect the traffic rules, more than they used to. Eventhought we are going to see unresponsable attitudes. The city has been getting special care with it’s streets and roads and the traffic has been improving.
In spite of the lack of a good mass transportation such as a good subway system, most of the population use cars and busses. Them, at the rush time the traffic jam is inevitable, mainly at the tunnels and at the seashore. This way, avoid to drive between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM and 7:30 PM.
Parking
There is how to park close to the mainly interest points. You just have to be careful to leave the car at a pay parking. Otherwise if there is no how to park at a pay parking, search for an allowed spot to park in the street. Don’t trust in "flanelinhas", people who offer you help to take care of parked cars. They tell you to park anywhere even on the sidewalks which is not allowed, so, avoid a very unpleasant surprise, such as have your car removed and got fined. Nowadays, most of the city have been being administrated by the local government under a system called "Vaga Certa" where you are supposed to pay R$ 2,00 (about US$ 1,10) and an agent stays responsible for a street. But, don’t think that it means security for your car.
Lights
The fines to the ones who disrespect a red light are among the most expensive in the world. Be carefull.
Zebra crossing
The zebra crossing without lights are rarely respected. Be careful with the cars behind you if you need to stop in one of them. If you are as a pedestrian and intend to cross the street, wait for a safe opportunity to cross.
Roads
Brazilian roads are highly used, mainly for trucks, responsible for the majority of the commerce transportation in the country.
In most of them, the speed limit is 80km, but you are going to realise that most of them overspeed this limit. keep calm, and don’t follow them, because there are a lot of radar control (OTHERVISE) and drive above the speed limit is very dangerous. These roads hide a lot of security problems.
Safety tips
As in any country, the tourists are the preferred target of the thieves. This way, avoid to show objects like photographic cameras and movie records, place your purchaser at the truck and leave at the hotel your passport and carrying only the necessary for your walk. At night, close your windows e stay aware when you stop at the red lights. If you have a mechanic problem with the car, try to reach to a safe place, such as a gas station and don’t stop immediately if somebody tells you that you have a problem with your car.