by Yours Truly
Part Three - Highway Driving
This third installment of the hugely popular (reader response has been so overwhelming that this writer is inundated with requests for reprints) Driving in Merida series is all about highway driving, something that both visitors and residents alike should find useful, since Yucatan is a large state and Cancun, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal and more are located at some distance from this formerly white city. At some point in your existence, while in this area, like it or not, you will find yourself on a highway.
Just in case you missed parts one (the introduction) and part two (those pesky pedestrians) you can find them here and here, respectively.
Once you leave the congested net of straight and orderly one way streets that make up the Centro Histérico and the south of Merida, or the larger but still crowded streets that haphazardly stretch in all directions towards the so-called Cultural Capital's north, you will find yourself on a highway.
Most highways in Yucatan have always been poorly paved one-lane-in-either-direction kind of highways, meandering from one village to another, punctuated only by bone-jarring topes (speed bumps) to remind you to slow down so that you can:
In the last few years, however, Yucatans' highway system has improved a lot; new, two-lanes in-either-direction highways can be found all over the place. These new roadways actually have real asphalt on them! Not like that so-called superhighway toll road that goes from Kantunil to Cancun. While admittedly straight and time saving, it is monotonously boring and the high speeds of the vehicles that use it, combined with the very rough paving materials used, have made for some spectacular and quite fatal roll-over accidents.
- Avoid the nastiness of accidental pedestrian homicide while travelling through the "oops I blinked and missed it" towns
- Purchase local produce in the form of peeled chinas, peanuts, guayas, etc. from kids who will hang onto your car, while yelling things and generally having a good time.
- all of the above
Driving on Yucatan's highways is a lot like driving on a highway anywhere else, with the occasional difference that makes it so much more exciting. If you are an allocentric tourist, that's what makes travelling fun right? When in Rome...
Speed Limits
Like anywhere else in the world, speed limits on Yucatecan highways are posted pretty well for fine collection purposes and no one actually respects them. In a 90 km/h speed zone, you can travel as fast as 140 and the police will not stop you providing you are in a late model car. If however, a lowly albañil loads a few more people into his vehicle than he should, then the lights come on and he is pulled over - easy prey, as opposed to risking life and limb chasing a flashy new Mercedes and then getting chewed out by it's owner who is someone potentially influential... Generally, a safe bet is to stay 10 km/h over the speed limit. There are no minimum speed limits on Yucatan's highways, and so many times you will see dilapidated vehicles cruising along at 30 or 40 km/h. Again, these are the cars that will be pulled over, so don't you fret.
Speed limits on curves, approaching off-ramps ( a new concept that many locals have yet to comprehend) and other areas are really slow. For example, the overpasses on Yucatans' new clover leaf type intersections have speed limits of 20 or 30 kms/hr. You will most likely be rear-ended at this speed, so don't even pay attention to it. Use common sense. Also do not rely on the signs to tell you how fast to go, there mostly aren't any. For example you are leaving a 30 km/h zone and would like to speed up. Theoretically, there should be a new speed limit indicator, but no such animal exists. My advice here? Just go with the flow.
Another example of this is the little dilapidated police 'headquarters' just outside Merida on the Progreso highway across from the steel factory. During the temporada there is a sign that says REDUCE SPEED. We are on a highway here - hello? During off months (such as now, there is a sign that indicates the speed limit is - ready for this? - 20 km/h!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trucks and Trailers
The sub-culture that makes up the truck driving crowd anywhere in the world is always amusing and somewhat entertaining; on Yucatan's highways it's no different. A couple of pointers...
Trucks will come up on your rear end fast and stay there, just like they would in Lubbock, Texas. I would advise you to pull into the right lane at this point, since a sudden brake or emergency on your part would result in the tragic juxtaposition of the truck and your personal commuting device.
When behind a truck, the driver will use his turn signals to
communicate with you. A left turn signal indicate that the coast is clear for
you to overtake (pass) the truck; a right turn signal means wait, there's some
oncoming traffic. Of course you are relying here on the sound judgment and good
intentions of a total stranger here, so it would probably be a good idea to have
a peek before accelerating full blast to pass. Also, the turn signals might
actually be (surprise) signaling a turn!
Other Drivers
You are not the only one using the highways of course, and must learn to get along, or at least around, everyone else. Here are some typical stereotypes to watch out for:
El Junior - driving Daddy's or his own brand new Audi/Mercedes/BMW, he is police-proof and in a big hurry. At 160 or more km/h he will pop up behind you lights a-flashin' and demand you move over for him. Tailgating is a definite possibility.
El Macho - Again driving as fast as possible, and again tailgating, usually in a pick-up, the macho man will want you out of the way - right now! Once I attempted to dissuade one of these cretins by touching my brakes whereupon he slammed on his; then he got real mad and tried to literally run me off the road at 120 km/h. One of Merida's finer citizens!
El Humilde - driving a battered, shattered Datsun before it became Nissan kind of vehicle, usually with some obviously home-made accessory mounted somewhere on it's dilapidated chassis, this person will suddenly come out of a side street and cross over 3 or 4 lanes busy traffic to end up on the shoulder of the other side of the highway. This will test your nerves and your steering abilities, so stay sharp.
El Camionero - is a combination of the truck driver, el macho and a homicidal maniac, since he generally has no consideration whatsoever for the lives of the persons he is charged with transporting, or anyone elses's on the road. What matters is the schedule and that the bus is full.
Hopefully my extranjero readers have found this little article useful
and will realize that the crazy things that go on Yucatan's highways are
completely normal.
I should like to end my Driving in Merida series at this point, since to go on would be completely redundant - I think the majority of my 11 readers get the general idea.
¡Buen viaje!
