Driving in Mexico

It’s been a week now of looking out the window as we drive from place to place, and I’ve learned some unexpected things about the roads in Mexico. For one, they have very few speed limit signs (and the ones they do have are in km/hr, which I’m still not very good at converting on the fly). Most of the roads we’ve been on are two-lane local roads, so we can be moving along at a pretty good clip, but then come an area with houses along the road. There are no signs to indicate a change in speed is needed; instead, they use speed bumps—speed bumps everywhere! And these are serious bumps that you have to almost stop for, not the mellow little things we have in parking lots at home. Some places there’s a sign indicating a “bump zone,” but most of the time you just have to be alert. The other drivers will help you out by putting on their hazard lights when they come to a bump, because apparently brakelights would not fully communicate the situation. (I can never even remember where the hazard lights are in my Mazda!)

It’s also very common to drive in the wrong lane, especially if you’re trying to avoid the steepest speed bumps or other kinds of ruts and potholes. Some places seem to have indications of “passing zones,” but generally, if you come up behind someone who is slower than you, they will put their left turn signal on to indicate that you should go around. You will then use your left signal to pass and your right signal to come back into your lane—which always makes me wonder, what if you think the car ahead is signaling that you should pass, but really they mean they are going to pass someone?

Also, whether you are driving through a “poblado” settlement of houses or are far from any visible community, there are often people walking along the sides of the roads. It might be a whole family dressed up like they are headed to a party, a group of young boys with bags of palm leaves they’ve cut, a farmer with a fertilizer tank on his back returning from the field, or just a couple of kids on their own. Everywhere you look, people are on their way to somewhere else. Sometimes they have a cart or a wheelbarrow carrying things; sometimes they are riding a bicycle; or in some areas we’ve seen men riding horses. In the little villages themselves, there may be kids standing by the side of the road trying to sell you fruit or baked goods, and often there are groups of people waiting for a bus or a taxi or a ride from a friend. On one stretch of road yesterday, an old woman had a rope with flags stretched across the road so it looked like you had to buy a banana from her before you could get past her temporary barrier.

And speaking of barriers, we’ve also been surprised by the number of police and military roadblocks and checkpoints. (Mothers, don’t worry—we’re fine!) Perhaps it’s because up until now we’ve been in the state of Chiapas, which has had some civil unrest; or because we’ve often been close to the border with Guatemala. In any case, sometimes it’s local police, sometimes the national Federales, and sometimes the army. Apparently, in Mexico, as in the US, they have a posse comitatus law which says the army can’t be involved in domestic police actions, but they’re doing these roadblocks anyway.  (Quick shout out to The West Wing, which taught me that fancy Latin phrase!)  Our driver and guide seem to take these checkpoints in stride, and most of the time, we are waived right through, probably because Nichole and I are clearly non-Mexican tourists. On the way from Bonampak to Palenque, however, we actually had to get out of the car so they could look under the seats; I noticed a sign in English explaining that these stops are to protect everyone’s safety by monitoring for drug smuggling, illegal immigrants, and invasive species. Hard to argue with that, I suppose, but the heavily-armed display of authority is still a little unnerving.

But really, mothers, don’t worry! At this point, the heat and the humidity are much more of a threat than the Mexican authorities—and don’t even get Nichole started about the mosquitoes : ) –Kris