The exodus of cars has begun for the long Carnival weekend

Thousands of Argentines have chosen to enjoy the first long weekend of the year away from home. Many have decided to leave to celebrate Carnival, while others have chosen to rest on the Atlantic coast, one of the favorite places to spend holidays during the summer. The exodus began to be felt this Friday morning on Routes 2 and 11, where the presence of vehicles was increasing hour by hour.

According to sources from AUBASA A GlobeLiveMediafor 11 a.m. they were detected, on Highway 2, 1,741 vehicles per hour in Samborombón and 985 in Maipú,. At that time, but at the La Huella tollbooth, on Route 11, 1,729 cars were registered.

Despite the long queues, the company in charge of the concession of the Buenos Aires-La Plata highway and the Atlantic corridor reported that traffic on the roads flows normally.

The only inconvenience was detected around 10 a.m. at kilometer 374, in the Buenos Aires city of Vivoratá, where traffic on Highway 2 was affected by an accident that caused a reduction in the roadway.

On the other hand, drivers going to Uruguay through the border crossing of Gualeguaychuin the province of Entre Ríos, reported traffic jams and delays on the General San Martín International Bridge.

This XXL weekend closes the tourist season of January and February, so high attendance is expected in the country’s seaside areas. However, as it coincides with the Carnival festivities, there are also high expectations in provinces like Córdoba and Jujuy.

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In consultation with the agency telam, the president of the Municipal Tourism Entity (Emtur), Bernardo Martin, explained that in Mar del Plata “the overall hotel reservations for the holidays are 82.8%, with 40,982 places reserved; 18.6% more places reserved than last year”. Moreover, in the Partido de La Costa, the local secretary of Tourism, Mónica Portela, maintained that the occupancy rate was around 96%.

For its part, Jujuy is also anticipating a large influx of visitors, with more than 90% reservations on nearly 12,500 places allowed in the province, according to information from the aforementioned media. On the other hand, in Cordoba, hotel establishments already have 66% of reservations for the next few days, detailed official sources.

From this Friday to Tuesday, the National Ministry of Transport, through the National Road Safety Agency (ANSV), is carrying out a new federal breathalyzer day, with simultaneous checks in the provinces and municipalities of all the countries. This is the first edition that will be extended for five consecutive days.

On January 28, more than 10,000 checks were carried out. Of all the tests performed, 3% of drivers tested positive on breathalyzer. The positive cases were mostly men and under 45 years old. In this context, tests that resulted in zero positivity for blood alcohol accounted for 96% of cases.

“We are going to be on the roads across the country, with provinces and municipalities, working side by side to seek out that 4% of people who still don’t understand the risks of drinking and driving to raise awareness and punish it. 3% goes further and exceeds the limits that the law still authorizes, until the National Senate approves Zero Alcohol. Ninety-six out of 100 people have already understood the message and the risks of drinking and driving and they are the ones who always have zero alcohol when we do the checks,” said the Transport portfolio manager, Diego Giuliano.

Soon, the National Senate will debate the Zero Drunk Driving Bill, put forward by the ANSV, which already obtained a half-sanction from the deputies last November and which aims to promote “a new road culture which dissociates alcohol from driving throughout the national territory”.

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