Its not just my subjective view of things. All expats complain about the driving here, but then again, they complain about everything so not helpful to my argument. However, we did meet some American dudes down here that were driving a Land Rover around the world longitudinally after having done it latitudinally several years back. They were doing this to raise money for Parkinson's Disease. They said no contest..hands down Argentina was the most dangerous driving they had come across. India came in a distant second and their roads were dangerous not so much because of the drivers but because of the various obstacles like sacred animals and funeral pyres that one might happen upon while driving there.
Lets just say that I don't know who is teaching driver's ed down here but sure isn't the ex- Marine, gym teacher that I owe my knowledge of the road rules to. I am not even sure that you have to take a class or even a test. The only test may be the bureaucratic marathon you have to survive in actually obtaining any thing official down here. What is clear though is that things like stopping at red lights, acknowledgement of lanes, and general driver's courtesy aren't necessary knowledge for a driver in Argentina. An Argentine might say, oh the driving isn't really that bad, and I would say LIAR. It is indisputable is that its DANGEROUS on the road here. I wont even go into the fate of the poor pedestrian. Its simply dangerous to be in a car.
The irony is all of this is that Argentines are really lovely people. They for the most part have their priorities in order and work so they can enjoy their families. They languish hours over coffee or wine, an asado is a 5-6 hour affair. They don't shy away from sharing their very passionate opinions of what is going on in the world. They really seem to enjoy their lives...So why are they always in such a hurry to kill themselves?
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