First off, CancunCanuck, glad to hear that the only thing injured in your accident was your car. Glad to hear that the taxista has at least paid up for parts. Curious to hear how it all ends. Gringation, my theory is that if a vehicle has wheels, it is considered street legal here. I've seen similar examples of unsafe vehicles down in Playa, it amazes me that there are apparently no restrictions on vehicles here. And, my hatred of the Cancun glorietas runs deep... Turning onto the street by the ADO station when traveling northbound is enough to give me chest pain. I don't drive in Cancun that much, but when I do, it is generally quite stressful regardless of where I am. I much prefer the grid layout of Playa to the zig-zag of Cancun. Oddly enough, research has shown that the use of glorietas at intersections reduce traffic accidents - I'd hate to see what things would be like without them. :aktion070:
The problem with the glorietas (other than the generally poor standard of driving) is they each seem to have their own rules. Some you have to stop when approaching, some you dont. Some you'll find traffic merging in from the left with right of way before you actually hit the glorieta, others you dont. Some will have traffic lights others not. Coming from the UK where the roundabout is everywhere, there are some extermely complicated ones but they are intuitive and well signed, not so here. Taxis drivers have no excuse though. I've been doing the school run lately - what a nightmare! Posh ladies driving huge SUV's and while talking on their cell phones all competing for the closest spot to the school entrance and totally oblivious of other drivers and pedestrians.
We got the car back today, no problems, paid for by the taxi driver. No insurance, no real hassles. I really dislike the glorietas and sometimes find routes that specifically avoid them. They are all different yet one thing remains the same...everyone drives in "creative" ways. ;-)
Try driving in Boston.........!!! Either Boston drivers are taking lessons from Cancun drivers....or...visa versa......... Ken PS: What in the world are....."glorietas".....???
I grew up driving in Detroit, have driven in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal (horrid!), Los Angeles (crazy) and drove all the way across Canada. Cancun has the worst drivers I've ever encountered. Glorietas are the circular intersections with no lights and usually no stop signs. They are called "roundabouts" in some places.
It's easy to find worse driving than you see in Cancun, but you may have to leave the western world to see it. China and Thailand represent places where head ons with large vehicles and others is an ever present possibility, with passing taking place where ever the driver decides he wants to pass, and big trucks and buses asserting a right to the full width of the road at all times. Vietnam exceeded all, however, with few consistently observing left-right distinctions when it comes to using the roadways, and right of way- when entering a main road- insisted upon by all. You could never be too alert, and had to be aware at all times whether another was coming toward you on "your side" of the road, or abruptly entering a roadway from a driveway, or street. (I got hit once, in Thailand, which made me painfully aware that traffic could flow in more than one direction, on a one-way street, and helped prepare me for Vietnam.) China and Vietnam were two places you could see the bodies of motorists and pedestrians lying in the street or roadway while making your way to work; and, in China, I saw some amazing aftermaths of head ons between two trucks. It's incredible what damage can be done, with little remaining of the drivers involved. Those who believe in reincarnation seem to be just a little more heedless of danger on the roads than we often are....
Dangerous Intersections Be careful at Yaxchilan and Labna...what my husband famously refers to as "Kamikaze Korner"...!
I have been away for a long time, and just read this post today. First, sorry for you Canuck, and happy you have nothing. But I don't agree with you, Life..... I drove in all crazy countries, Canada on snow and ice, Africa... I won't say, Cancun etc.... NEVER HAD ANY ACCIDENT. I am on a board here called City-Data, where people always say the Floridian drivers are the worst in the world. I disagreed until 2 weeks ago. I was driving in a small street around 2 pm, a guy came the other way, started to come to my lane, I did my best to avoid him, went to the sidewalk, but impossible. At least he didn't hit me on the front, but at the side and very hard at the back, made me spin around. I am VERY lucky to be alive, although I have been injured. Nobody else was coming. My car (Mexican...) is almost destroyed. My lawyer is fighting, I hope he is good. The guy was DUI, he was arrested then released within 24 hours. I guess he does it again... In Cancun, distances are small, here they are huge, so they drive much faster (yes) than there.
Been doing the school run lately and I think I have finally figured it out. "Who is in front, wins." Whenever you're approaching a junction, a 3 lanes into 2 or a glorieta, the person whose car has a frontal advantage, even if a few centimetres, holds power. It's perfectly OK for a car to turn left from the right hand lane as long as they are a couple of inches in front when they do it. If they are ahead, whatever they do, you are the one that needs to take evasive action. If not, you are the one that crashed in to them, not they crashed into you.
This was exactly the rule of the road in Mexico City, Steve, when I drove there in 1971. I got along fine on the busiest of city streets by yielding to those who were slightly ahead of me, making no sudden changes of direction or speed, and just going wherever I wanted in the very wide, multi-lane streets there. The corollary rule was that you don't look back, or check your mirror, relying instead on the other drivers to yield to you. It was a different way to drive, but worked just fine because of the common understanding among the drivers. I did not have a single driver honk at me for one week there.
