Chile on a UK Licence — The Side Switch & a 0.03 Limit (Down From 0.08)

Two things change at once for a British driver in Chile, and they are exactly the two that get tourists into trouble: you are now on the right-hand side of the road, and the drink-drive limit is a fraction of what you are used to. Get those clear before you pick up the keys and the rest is straightforward.

Start with the side of the road. Chile drives on the right, and the danger is not the open motorway — it is the reflexes. Pulling out of a petrol station, taking a roundabout that now flows the other way, or glancing the wrong direction at a junction. Spend your first hour on quiet roads, not in Santiago traffic, and be deliberate at every turn until it stops feeling wrong.

The second change is alcohol, and the gap is dramatic. England and Wales sit at 0.08; Chile is 0.03 — close to three times stricter and below a single pint for most people. Sobriety checkpoints are common near the capital and along the coast in summer, and penalties run from heavy fines to the car being held. The only safe number is zero if you are driving.

On documents, an International Driving Permit is recommended for British visitors. It is not always demanded, but rental desks and roadside police prefer to see one alongside your UK licence and passport — pick one up at a Post Office before you travel, as you cannot get one locally. The Driving Permit Checker confirms the detail.

Speeds are slightly higher than home in metric terms: 120 km/h on the autopista, 100 rural, 60 in towns. A 10 km/h overspeed costs around CLP 38,000-70,000 (EUR 35-65), usually camera-issued near Santiago; the Speeding Fine Calculator estimates one. Beyond the rules, remember the scale — the Pan-American is fast but the country is 4,000 km long, with long fuel gaps in the Atacama. Fuel is about $1.35/litre, emergencies answer on 131, and the full rulebook is in our Chile driving guide.