Entries Tagged 'Driving in Mexico Mistakes' ↓

It seems everybody is in a rush here in Mexico. If you have ever driven in Guadalajara, I’m sure you can attest to that. 

And this is bad news for those of us who like to take our sweet time.

What this means is that everyone is expecting you to be zooming around in your car.  So, if you decide that you’re going to take a slow turn down a roadway, don’t be surprised if all of a sudden you get rear-ended.  After all, the people are expecting you to take a quick turn and won’t realize that you’re taking your sweet time until it’s too late.

One could say that people here are hazard lights happy.

At first, this took me some getting used to. I think that the only times I ever used my hazard lights was the one time when I was involved in an accident (his fault, not mine) and when I lost a car to a raging rapid created by a torrential downpour. 

But down here, it seems that people use their hazard lights to inform everybody that they are going to sneeze.  

But, seriously, if you don’t use your hazard lights to signal that the traffic has come to an abrupt stop, don’t be surprised if you get rear-ended. You see, since the people are accustomed to seeing these lights if traffic stops abruptly, if you don’t go with the flow, well, let’s just say that you may not like the outcome. 

On the other side of things, make sure to drive conservatively at all times because it is common for other vehicle to not have working hazard lights.  

This is another mistake that hits close to home to me.

A couple of years ago, I was driving from Lake Chapala to Guadalajara.  I took a left turn at a stoplight as the light was turning yellow and basically got caught turning on a red light. The policeman who stopped me did the standard drill; asked for my license.

Only, I had forgotten my license at home!

According to the Mexican traffic law, he could have taken my car and impounded it. That would have meant that I would have had to pay the fine for running the red light, plus a fine for not carrying my license with me, plus the fine to get my car out of the impound lot.

We worked things out. It cost me 400 pesos, but it could have been a lot worse.

Since the Mexican government has had such a hard time getting people to pay their traffic violations, they have set-up a rewards system for those that pay early. And you can benefit from it too.

If you pay your traffic violation within the first 5 days, you are entitled to take 50% discount off the amount of the ticket. If you pay within the ensuing 2 weeks, you are entitled to take off 25%.

Let’s face it. Bribing in Mexico is a way of life.

I try to look at it from the police officer’s perspective.  Most salaries for the traffic police are around 300 - 500 USD per month. That’s pretty low. So, in order to feed their families, many police officers resort to asking for bribes. However, this is not the case with all. And watch out if one of those stops you.

Just for the record, I don’t condone that you give bribes.  Technically, if you offer a bribe to a police office, your fine could be raised, or your vehicle could even be confiscated. So, you need to be very careful. But I do recognize that this is the norm in Mexico, so you should probably know how do it with the least likelihood of getting in trouble. Just be aware that you do so at your own risk.  

Always wait for the police officer to insinuate the bribe first. He/she will say something like “What should we do about this?” or “What do you suggest we do?” Once you hear this, then you can proceed with caution. But never before.

Also, since this activity could get the police officer in trouble, if you are not discreet with the money exchange, you could tick them off.

This mistake hits very close to home for me.

I used to rent a house down in the Lake Chapala area. I was also given a garage to use. For the most part, I made use of the garage. But, I won’t lie, it was a big hassle to get my car in it. So, one week I was feeling lazy and I didn’t put my car in the garage. Not only that, but since I lived close to work, and didn’t have to drive, I didn’t move my car for a few days straight. 

Well, of course, I got broken into.

Thieves are always on the lookout for cars that go unmoved for several days. After all, that suggests that nobody is coming and going from the car. And it is a much safer target. 

If you are like most, when you get your car washed, you leave your keys with the car wash employees so they can drive your vehicle to where they wash it. And this is fine. 

But, the danger comes when you give the car wash employee your car keys along with your house keys, due to the fact that they are both attached to the same key ring.  This gives these employees the ability to make copies of your house keys.

It may sound a little paranoid, but I have heard stories of people being robbed in this way.

Many intersections only allow you to make a turn with a green arrow. And the kicker is that there isn’t always a sign letting you know this. But if you wait through the light’s cycle, you will see that a green arrow does appear. 

Mexican police love the ambiguity of this. In fact, right by my house, there is a left hand turn with no markings. The police camp out around the corner and catch everyone that turns without the arrow.

When there are markings you will see a sign of a circle with an arrow inside. Or you may see the following words, “vuelta con flecha”.  But, if you do not see any markings, make sure to count the number of inactive lights on the stoplight.  If there are more than three, chances are good that you will have to wait for an arrow. 

Many people mistakenly think that when they bring their car down to Mexico, their insurance policy from the U.S. or Canada will cover them. And to make matters worse, many U.S. or Canadian companies state that their coverage is valid in Mexico.  This may be true to a certain degree.  However, Mexican law states that every vehicle, foreign or domestic, must carry civil liability insurance by a recognized Mexican company.

I am still amazed at how many people run red lights here.  In fact, you can pretty much count on it.

Do yourself a favor and be sure to wait 2 seconds, look both ways and then pull out into the intersection.  This may irritate the people behind you, and they may honk at you, but I’d rather piss off a few people than smash up my car. 

Making this a habit has been directly responsible for me avoiding so many accidents that I have now lost count.