Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
The entry titled "Speed bumps: the scourge of Mexico."
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > November > 29 > Entry
Speed bumps: the scourge of Mexico
If you think Austin has too many speed bumps, you would be horrified by the proliferation of the traffic-calming devices south of the border.
Speed bumps (called “topes” here) are everywhere: they appear unannounced on major highways, turn residential neighborhoods into obstacle courses and cause major traffic backups on city streets. And there is no “speed cushion” foolishness in Mexico: we’re talking good old concrete, high enough to scrape the chassis when you pass over.
Simply put, speed bump mania is out of control in Mexico.
Many speed bumps aren’t the result of the public works department, but are installed by neighbors hoping to slow traffic on their own particular stretch of road. 
How ridiculous has the speed bump movement gotten in Mexico? Check out this speed bump some uptight neighbors put on a NARROW, COBBLESTONE ALLEY near our house in the Coyoacan neighborhood.
But speed bumps are even more of a menace once you leave the city. On all but the biggest highways, “topes” can be found at the entrance to every town, no matter how small.
We don’t drive in Mexico City, but when we hit the hinterlands for an assignment we often rent a car.
Covering Hurricane Dean in the Yucatan a few months ago, speed bumps nearly were our undoing.
After driving to Chetumal, near where Dean made landfall, we sped back up the highway hoping to reach Tulum before night fell. In the quickly disappearing light of dusk, we would hit poorly marked speed bumps (some are painted bright yellow, but others are dark and deliver a nasty surprise if you don’t know they’re coming up). Flying over a tope at 50 m.p.h. is not as fun as it sounds. Luckily we stayed upright, but the mad braking and lurching over the speed bumps further frayed our already frazzled nerves.
In fairness, some type of speed control is definitely needed in Mexico, where drivers regularly go as fast as the local conditions will allow. But as communities from Texas to California have cried out in recent years, there has to be a better way!
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By PC Scippie
December 3, 2007 3:04 PM | Link to this
The reason Mexico uses “topes” is because it doesn’t have a forest of stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights or, at least until pretty recently, a lot of traffic cops. I like the darn “topes” myself —- driving in Mexico is generally more expeditious than in the US just because the traffic-control infrastructure is so sparse. Mexico is truly the land of rugged individualism —- a driver does what he must and trusts in God. Yeah, I know it’s dangerous but did I mention, Mexico is the truly the land of rugged individualismo. … My only criticism is that some topes are not well-marked (or marked at all) which pretty much guarantees an occasional high-speed encounter. Viva Mexico!