How do you guys deal with the traffic and other nonsense

Haha, the pot holes deft. do just spice things up, lol! I also don't think I would drive there for the reasons that everyone else wrote! I am curious though, have you all seen a lot of accidents in cancun, like major ones? Although the driving is crazy there, I have only ever witnessed one bigger accident in Cancun during my last trip which was 6 months.. I don't know where you are all from originally, but driving in my city is really bad. Although the people are more likely to follow certain rules like stopping, they speed like crazy here, cut you off if you don't go 20 or 30 above the posted maximum, etc. My city is one of the worst in Toronto to drive in.. the amount of accidents I see in one week is terrible! From major accidents that are just horrifying to see, to a car accident in the parking lot that ends up totaling three cars!! (how this happens, I do not know).. Interesting to say the least!

 

I saw my first bad accident last week after 2 yrs and that was down near Tulum and it was a single are overturned on the side of the road. The other was in the HZ...truck towing a boat jack-kifed. No other car involved. Seen some fender benders, but nothing news worthy.

 

mc1234: That is an interesting point... for all the terrible driving and lack of rules, I haven't seen a particularly large number of accidents in Cancun. Since it's mostly city driving, you rarely see more than a fender bender, and there aren't even so many of those.

The Bonfil highway toward the airport has seen its share of nasty accidents though (the area Steve was mentioning earlier) and as the highway continues down the Riviera Maya. That's a pretty scary area to drive.

 

I drive super defensively here, the lack of lanes, signs and etiquette make it interesting to say the least. The intersection in front of INM (Nader/Uxmal) is a terror and I know it, nobody obeys the stop sign there. I proceeded knowing that, saw a taxi screaming through it and could not avoid the collision, he creamed me.

But centro isn't what bothers me, it's the highway. I had a horrible accident happen right in front of me, a little Chevy ran into TWO pick ups, they all flipped over repeatedly and I hurt my ankle I had to slam on my brakes so hard to avoid the mess. The highway of death man, I avoid it at night at all costs and even still if I am going to Playa or Tulum I would rather take the bus than drive. A bit less convenient, but I feel safer.

 

mc1234: Like Gringation says, its mostly city driving, which I assume would mean less speed.

The bad ones Ive seen have all been on the highway towards P Morelos/Playa.

My first fishing trip to Puerto Morelos(4 months after arriving here), was topped off with a pick-up that got hit when entering the highway from Puerto Morelos... I didnt see the bodies, but counted to 6 white blankets...

Which leads me to: On EVERY walk, bus ride, taxi ride etc. I see over packed vehicles, usually "granny" and the kids, sitting on the "cargo area"(dont know the proper term in English, sorry) on cheap plastic chairs. Same with the one that got smashed in Puerto Morelos. Ive also seen a family of 9(!!) coming out of a tiny Chevy... Scary.

 

I prefer not to drive here because of the craziness but I feel like I am used to how it is now and I´ve done my fair share of driving friends cards and rental cars. I´ve driven to Merida and back without a problem.

They definitely give licenses to ANYONE & most people drive and don´t even have licenses! The signs are definitely suggestions rather than law and that´s half the problem.

For these reasons I really debate ever having my car sent here from the states or buying one of my own. If you hit someone or get hit there is normally only an exchange of cash in the street and no talk of insurance. I am also mind boggled by those few mexicans who do drive super nice cars like hummers or escalades because I feel like it is only a matter of time until their car is vadalized or they get into an accident! crazy.

 

Everyone has some really good points I deft. agree the highway would be a lot more dangerous since there is more speed and no rules lol, not a good combination. I think one part of driving in Cancun and Mexico in general really is its lack of laws for children to be in seatbelts, or safety seats.. That is deft. the scariest thing for me about driving in Cancun

 

and getting off topic the lack of clean public toilets in gas stations or convenience stores is disturbing.

I have definitely been swayed and wooed by the orderliness of living in the states.

 

i got ran over on my moped, and the bastie still says today: "dont forget you ran me over"

I come from mexico city... driving or better said: "trying to drive" around those bus and taxi drivers there teach you a thing or two, apparently, i didn't really learn much...

i had a friend that i took downtown a few years ago and he was impressed of how there are no lanes or people do not respect them... i had never noticed haha

I drive everyday from yaxchilan to huayacan on my little scooter and its almost always perfect, almost always