One thing you will notice when you travel by road in Mexico is that while there are laws of the road, most people don’t follow them. It isn’t unusual on highways to see a bus passing a bus who is also passing a car. It sounds a little crazy, and well, it is.
The most common thing you see is people not stopping at stop signs. For those that don’t know Spanish well, “alto” means stop. Our advice as a visitor is simple: do what the sign says and come to a complete stop, and don’t assume the driver approaching the cross street will stop either.
There are four types of drivers when it comes to negotiating the stop sign.
- What Stop Sign? – regardless of the law, these people ignore the stop sign and never take their foot off the gas and barrel through the stop like it doesn’t exist. (NOTE: Don’t do this!)
- The Light Braker – this is the person who touches their brakes and slows down a little but doesn’t come near to stopping their vehicle.
- The Slow Roller – this is the person who slows the vehicle down and slowly rolls through the stop sign but never comes to a complete stop.
- The Rule Follower (a.k.a. tourist not from Mexico) – this is the person who does what the sign says and comes to a complete stop.
As a visitor to Mexico, it’s not recommended you choose to be number 1 or 2 above, and if you are nervous driving on foreign roads, be the Rule Follower. Many people start out following the rules and then become a Slow Roller; don’t copy them. The smartest thing to do is just like any other place you drive, be aware of your surroundings. If you do see a What Stop Sign driver, get out of his way. Chances are he’s a danger to himself and everyone around him. Also, watch out for the guy in the far right-hand lane making a left-hand turn! Persona loca!!
Driving down for the first time? The documents, insurance and crossing steps are in what you need before you drive into Mexico. Mexican federal law requires every vehicle on a federal highway, road or bridge to carry third-party liability insurance (Ley de Caminos, Puentes y Autotransporte Federal, art. 63 Bis). Before your first drive, our auto coverage guide shows what a policy covers and what it leaves out.
Only need it for a few days? Get a Mexican auto insurance quote from Baja Bound.