1) Mexican stop signs. Enough fodder for a few jokes right there. More like
yield signs, unless they happen to stand in front of dudes with guns, which
they often do at highway mulitary checkpoints (most of which we were,
happily, waved through). I happen to like the Mexican stop sign, though. No
one ever ran one - that we saw - when other traffic was around. But why
stop for no one? I think it's an efficient system.
2) Mexican speedbumps. These, unlike the stop signs, are deadly serious,
and not at all optional. The country is littered with them, likely because
they provide the only effective method of speed control. But they like to
lie in wait for the unsuspecting. With very few exceptions, they are
well-marked. But they still have a habit of sneaking up on you. And if
you're not careful, they are big enough to make you bottom out (which I
did, several times) or fling you from your seat (which I did not,
thankfully). Either way, they are enough of an annoyance that they made me
want to get out of Mexico, which we did two nights ago, lane-splitting our
way (slowly and safely, of course), to the front of the line.
Entering the U.S. I was actually thrilled to enter a relatively tope-free
land - tope being the Spanish name for speedbump (it probably also means
"extraordinary nuisance").
The excitement lasted about 45 minutes, right until the moment we turned
onto the street where friends of ours have a house we crashed at. And
there, alas were more topes. When it comes to speedbumps, there is no
escape.
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