What are the 10 most committed traffic offenses by Chileans in 2023?

Law 18 290 or Highway Code, is the one that governs our country for all those who circulate in the streets and it is the one that we must respect. In Third MT We wanted to know what are the current 10 offenses most committed traffic by Chileans during this 2023 and we have had several surprises.

To contextualize, we must remember that all traffic violations are issued in our country by the Chilean police or tax and municipal inspectors, who are responsible for enforcing the law.

From what the Carabinieri of Chile told us, at country level, there has been 3,307,314 vehicle checks and the 10 most committed offenses by Chileans total 392,904 penalties.

Before knowing the list, we wanted to highlight the main offense committed by Chileans: driving without a license.

This (very serious) offense has increased sharply in recent times and the authorities are concerned, at least as Colonel Emilio Teixidor points out, who told us that he had to multiply inspections for this reason.

“There has been a sharp increase in the offense of driving without a driver’s license and this is of great concern to us. Indeed, in recent times we have increased the inspection on this issue, since not having it means that this person does not have the necessary skills to be able to drive. In general, we try to control offenses that statistically cause accidents resulting in injury or death, among which are driving without a license (you are not fit to drive), the No Chat law (not paying attention to the conditions of traffic), and speed (it has been shown that the more speed there is in driving, the greater the risk of a traffic accident), among others,” says Captain Teixidor.

It is important to point out that this offense is considered not to carry this document at the time of the inspection, that is, it considers the person who has forgotten the license when leaving the vehicle, as the person who did not withdraw the document.

Under these parameters, the work of the carabinieri focused on inspection and more so on motorcycles. It is this last type of vehicle, where transport without a license predominates, yes, Teixidor indicated that there is a tendency with foreigners.

The reason for this violation is a mixture of factors, as on the one hand there are the complications that exist to obtain/renew the license and on the other hand the degree of responsibility of the driver. Faced with this, Teixidor appeals “not to wait until the last minute to carry out this procedure. In the end, the responsibility for not having a license rests solely with the user and it is he who must know if his license has expired or if he needs to look up the formula so he can remove it. The law is clear and you can’t drive without it and we will continue to insist on this and monitor it.”

Although driving under the influence of alcohol or banned substances is not among the top 10 traffic offenses committed by Chileans, Captain Teixidor stresses that “we must remember that this is a crime, which is why it does not appear among traffic offences”. .

1. Driving without a licence: 151,619 offenses
2. Speeding: 65,919 offenses
3. No parking reported: 64,722 offenses
4. Inappropriate parking: 34,538 offenses
5. Technical examination due: 28,198 offenses
6. Driving with tinted windows: 14,141 offenses
7. Expired driver’s license: 13,739 offenses
8. Driving while talking on a cell phone without a handsfree : 7,510 offenses
9. Disobey STOP: 7,056 offenses
10. Not wearing a seat belt: 5,462 offenses

• Less serious offenses range from 0.5 to 1 CHU ($31,225 to $62,450).
• Serious offenses range from 1 to 1.5 CHUs ($62,450 to $93,675).
• The most serious violations range from 1.5 to 3 CHUs ($93,675 to $187,350).

According to Colonel Teixidor himself, the way is not to increase the costs of infractions, because that would lead to offenders not paying the debt and continuing to break the law. “The important thing here is that whatever sanction is executed, that’s where the focus should be,” explains the Carabinieri captain.

On the other hand, there is a question of education, which for Teixidor is essential. “There are many projects in which the traffic code is taught in schools, that’s why we work in school brigades and therefore have traffic education for children. We have a high number of people who die in accidents of traffic and which are also avoidable”.

For him, education is the basis and, together with inspection and instruments such as the Cati law, his objective is to reduce the number of traffic offenses and accidents.