Road safety

Emergency numbers

In an emergency, call the right service and say what happened and where you are: highway, km (the number on the nearest kilometer post) and sentido (the direction of travel, named after the city the road leads to).

• 190: Military Police (Polícia Militar, the state police)
• 191: Federal Highway Police (PRF), on federal highways
• 192: SAMU, the mobile emergency medical service (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência)
• 193: Fire Department (Corpo de Bombeiros)
• 199: Civil Defense (Defesa Civil), in municipalities that run this service

Sources: PRF: Orientações de viagem (Federal Highway Police: travel advice); PRF: Guia para a circulação de veículos no Brasil (Cartilha Mercosul), seção 7 (Federal Highway Police: guide to driving vehicles in Brazil, section 7); Defesa Civil do Paraná: tridígito 199 (Paraná Civil Defense: the 199 emergency number)

Toll highways: concessionária assistance and SAU bases

On federal toll highways (rodovias concedidas), the contracts between the National Land Transportation Agency (Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres, ANTT) and the concessionárias provide for emergency medical care and mechanical assistance 24 hours a day, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

According to the ANTT, mechanical assistance includes towing, tire changes and help for vehicles involved in crashes, with the vehicle taken to predetermined locations. Medical assistance has rescue vehicles and mobile ICUs. The SAU bases (Serviço de Atendimento ao Usuário, the concessionária’s roadside assistance bases) are in direct contact with the concessionária and, according to the ANTT, offer parking, restrooms, water and a rest area. Facilities vary from one base to another: check on site.

To request these services, call the assistance number of the concessionária for that stretch, usually a toll-free 0800 number. Look for the number on the highway signs or on the concessionária’s website. On state toll highways, services follow each state’s contract; in São Paulo, ARTESP (the São Paulo State Transportation Agency) publishes data on the SAU bases of the highways under concession.

To contact the ANTT (complaints, suggestions and information), call 166. The call is free; the automated service runs 24 hours a day, and live agents are available Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

On this site, SAU bases appear in each highway’s list, with km and sentido.

Sources: ANTT: atendimento médico de emergência e socorro mecânico 24 horas nas rodovias federais concedidas (24-hour emergency medical care and mechanical assistance on federal toll highways); ANTT: serviços oferecidos aos usuários das rodovias concedidas (services for users of toll highways); ANTT: alerta aos usuários das rodovias federais concedidas (telefone das concessionárias) (notice to users of federal toll highways: the concessionárias’ phone numbers); ANTT: Fale Conosco (central 166) (contact us: the 166 call center); ARTESP: dados abertos do Serviço de Atendimento ao Usuário (open data on the SAU roadside assistance bases in São Paulo)

Before and during long trips

The PRF recommends planning your trip: know the distances, the weather conditions, and the stopping points, gas stations and restaurants along the route, and carry your personal and vehicle documents. You can check the weather forecast on the website of Inmet, Brazil’s national weather service.

Check your vehicle, even for short trips: headlights, tires in good condition and properly inflated, engine oil and radiator water, spare tire, jack, warning triangle, lug wrench, windshield wipers and lights. The CTB requires you to check the mandatory equipment, and whether you have enough fuel to reach your destination, before you set off (art. 27).

Plan a stop every 3 hours, the PRF recommends. Many hours in a row behind the wheel can cause “highway hypnosis”: the driver’s eyes stay open, but they do not notice what is happening around them, with drowsiness and slowed reflexes. If you feel sleepy, stop as soon as you find a suitable place and rest.

The PRF warns that “rebites”, amphetamines taken to stay awake, slow your reflexes and cause health problems, even when the driver does not feel sleepy.

Always wear your seat belt, which is mandatory for all occupants (CTB, art. 65), and obey speed limit and no-passing signs, especially in work zones.

Sources: PRF: Orientações de viagem (Federal Highway Police: travel advice); PRF: Dia do Caminhoneiro, alerta sobre “rebites” (16/9/2026) (Truck Drivers’ Day warning about stimulant pills, September 16, 2026); Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (Lei nº 9.503/1997), arts. 27 e 65

Headlights on highways

As amended by Lei nº 14.071/2020, the CTB requires you to keep your low beams on at night and, even during the day, in tunnels and in rain, fog or mist (art. 40, I).

On undivided highways (rodovias de pista simples, where a single pista, or roadway, carries both directions) outside urban areas, vehicles without daytime running lights (DRL) must keep their headlights on during the day as well (art. 40, § 2º). Motorcycles, scooters and mopeds always use low beams, day and night, as do buses running in dedicated lanes or busways (art. 40, § 1º).

Failing to keep your low beams on in these cases is a medium violation (infração média; art. 250, I).

Source: Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (Lei nº 9.503/1997), arts. 40, I e §§ 1º e 2º, e 250, I (redação da Lei nº 14.071/2020)

If you break down

Turn on your hazard lights: they are for a stopped vehicle and for emergencies (CTB, art. 40, V).

If you can, move the vehicle off the traffic lanes (pista de rolamento) and stop on the shoulder (acostamento), which the CTB defines as the part of the road intended for stopping or parking in an emergency (Annex I).

Put out warning signals right away, as set out by Contran (the National Traffic Council), for example with the warning triangle (art. 46). Failing to signal on the road when you move the vehicle off the pista or while you stay on the shoulder, or failing to keep the exterior lights on at night, is a serious violation (infração grave; art. 225, I).

Only make repairs on the road if the vehicle cannot be moved and warning signals are in place (art. 179).

Then call for help: on toll highways, call the concessionária’s assistance number; in an emergency on federal highways, call 191. While you wait, stay away from the traffic lanes.

Sources: Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (Lei nº 9.503/1997), arts. 40, V, 46, 179 e 225, e anexo I; PRF: Orientações de viagem (Federal Highway Police: travel advice)

If there is a crash

If anyone is injured, call SAMU (192) or the Fire Department (193) and the police (190; on federal highways, the PRF at 191).

A driver involved in a crash with victims must, if able, give or arrange help, take steps to prevent danger to traffic at the scene, preserve the scene for the police and forensic experts, move the vehicle when a police officer or traffic officer orders it, and identify themselves to the police officer, giving the information for the police report (boletim de ocorrência). Failing to meet these duties is a very serious violation (infração gravíssima; CTB, art. 176).

In a crash without victims, the driver must move the vehicle from the spot when this is necessary for the safety and flow of traffic (art. 178).

Put out warning signals as you would for a breakdown and, on a toll highway, notify the concessionária.

Sources: Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (Lei nº 9.503/1997), arts. 176 e 178; PRF: Guia para a circulação de veículos no Brasil (Cartilha Mercosul), seção 7 (Federal Highway Police: guide to driving vehicles in Brazil, section 7)

At night and in the rain

Adjust your speed to the conditions of the road, the vehicle, the load, the weather and the traffic, always within the road’s speed limit (CTB, art. 43), and increase your distance from the vehicle ahead, taking the weather into account (art. 29, II).

At night, use low beams. On unlit roads, use high beams, except when meeting an oncoming vehicle or following one (art. 40, I and II).

In rain, fog or mist, keep your low beams on during the day too (art. 40, I). Hazard lights are for a stopped vehicle and for emergencies; using them in other situations is a medium violation (arts. 40, V, and 251, I).

Before you set off, check the weather forecast for your route, as the PRF advises.

Sources: Código de Trânsito Brasileiro (Lei nº 9.503/1997), arts. 29, II, 40, 43 e 251, I; PRF: Orientações de viagem (Federal Highway Police: travel advice)