Peru has the second-worst drivers in the world

For those living and driving in Peru it comes to no surprise. A recent study by Compare the Market, an Australian car insurance company, came to the conclusion that Peru has the second-worst drivers in the world.

To find out which countries have the best and worst drivers, the car insurance experts chose 50 countries worldwide comparing how good they are to drive in. To do this, 6 different factors were compared:

• Traffic Index: A composite index of time consumed in traffic due to job commute, estimation of time consumption dissatisfaction, CO2 consumption estimation in traffic and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system. Low values get a high score. High values get a low score.
• Road Quality: Response to the survey question “In your country, what is the quality of road infrastructure?” High values get a high score. Low values get a low score.
• Speed Limit: The maximum speed limit within the country. Low values get a high score. High values get a low score. High values get a high score. Low values get a low score.
• Traffic Injury Deaths: Estimated road traffic death rate, per 100,000 people, in 2019. Low values get a high score. High values get a low score.
• Blood Alcohol Limit: The maximum allowable blood alcohol limit whilst driving. Measured in g/dl. Low values get a high score. High values get a low score.
• Social Media Sentiment: The percentage of social media posts that were positive about “driving” in the last year. High values get a high score. Low values get a low score. 

And while the world’s best drivers can be found in Japan, the Netherlands and Norway, on the other end of the spectrum we find the world’s worst drivers in Thailand, Peru and Lebanon.

Peru not only has come in second-last place but got the highest traffic index score (220.4), and fourth-poorest levels of road quality.

To make matters even worse, TomTom just recently published their Traffic Index 2022 measuring cities around the world by their travel time, fuel costs and CO2 emissions. The Peruvian capital ranked 8^th worldwide with a travel time per 10km (6mi) of 27min 10s, an increase of 2 minutes compared to last year. On the American continent Lima even is placed first before Bogota with a travel time per 10km of 26min 20s and Mexico City with 25min 40s.

So, if you are brave enought to drive in Lima or Peru, the only thing we can do for you is our article "Driving in Lima - Not for the faint-hearted; Peruvian combination of “demolition derby” and a “game of chicken”. Have fun!

Driving in Lima - Not for the faint-hearted

Editors Opinion

Driving in Lima and Peru will be a very “interesting” experience if you are used to driving in North America or Europe.