Driving at night in Mexico?

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thesagittariansprince

Don't drive at night on the two-lane roads. There is a lot of loose livestock and I have yet to see a cow equipped with tail lights. My tip for driving at night is - DON'T. On the toll roads (which are as good as or even better than those in the U.S. or Canada), you can drive at night, but should be aware that some roads -- particularly the Orizaba-Villahermosa road, and the Mexico City-Acapulco road, have been known to have assaults at night.
Many guidebooks and travellers advise against driving at night. This is excellent advice. When driving the "libre" roads at night you will likely encounter pedestrian traffic (people on the way to church, every night}, animals, slow moving traffic, road hazards and the occasional person who has fallen asleep on the warm road or is simply just sitting there. Driving at night, outside of a municipality, tourist area, or on a toll road is risky and dangerous. There are some Mexicans who (perhaps to save fuel?) drive without lights; drunk driving is very common at night.

Charlie

Because "good" roads can become very bad SUDDENLY. A beautiful 4 lane, perfect highway can end and become a 2 lane pot-hole filled obstacle course in the blink of an eye. It is difficult to see sections of bad pavement, there are often no lines painted on the roads or along the edges, there are often VERY difficult to spot signs or no signs at all, andBIG black cows like to stand in the middle of the road in the middle of the nite! I am sure thee are some areas where you could make it through the nite ok, but unless you have driven that stretch in the daytime and know it well, it sure is risky to try to drive it at nite. I have driven thousands of miles in Mexico...as have many folks I know...and nobody thinks it is wise to drive after dark. Help is harder to find than in the states, esp. at nite and esp. if you do not speak Spanish well. Much of Mexico is mountainous, and the fog in these areas is suden, thick as sour creme...and there are NO shoulders to pull over on. In mountainous regions, the roads are narrow, have not one inch of shoulder, no guard rails, and drop offs that would scare the pants off you if you could actually SEE them. In some parts of the country thee are great autopistas, in others thease are only for short spurts...so you must KNOW the road well, or not drive it at nite. Just saw the other answers...i don't think robberies are a big problem, but i wouldn't want to be roken down at nite on a dark highway...and yes there are pedestrians, bicycles, cars with no lights.

Have you considered taking the bus/ There are buses straight from the U.S., theyare luxurious, and cheap. Email me if i can be of any help.

lpaganus

Just don't do it. Never mind the overwhelming new of robberies, its not safe, too many people walking on the side of the road, in the dark, drunk drivers, there have been incidences of horses loose on the toll roads..

Vaggaloor

Hello.

I'm mexican, living and answering from MÃ©xico.

I guess you should come to see to understand that.

I don't drive at night in MÃ©xico, even beeing mexican. Sometimes I have to, but I tried to avoid that all the time.

There are several reasons:
1.- The highways can be in bad conditions, even if you are driving in a good one, suddenly a huge crater can be in front! and it can cost your life. At day you can see farther (is it correct? more far?).
2.- In many highways ("free" highways, not toll) there are animals on the way: cows, horses, donkeys, drunk guys, and more stuffs. It can cost your life too. I have a friend that had crashed 'cause a horse, and know many cases of accidents like this, even mortal accidents.
3.- The signals are very bad in many highways and roads. Although the government is improving the more important highways, there are yet many roads without any sign or with bad signals: no line painted in the floor, no advertisement of on coming curves or narrow bridges, or bumpers ahead or houses. It can cost your life too.
4.- When you drive at night, specially in state highways or no the more importants, everybody is "suspiscius": the local police could stop you to check if you are not a drunk or a gangster. It happens to me often. Dependig on where in MÃ©xico you are, it can be as safe as in USA, or very risky; the variation is 'cause state police corps are differents at each state, some are very good (like in Aguascalientes) and some are very corrupted (like in Oaxaca).
5.- Okay, the risk of beeing robbed is real, again dependig on where in MÃ©xico you are. Usually, the target of crime are big transports moving merchandises, but the risk exist; although is not as big as the others I told you.
6.- There are many drunk guys driving in MÃ©xico's highways at night, specially in weekends. Many people in MÃ©xico drives, but few KNOW to drive (it is a true), in many states it is not required to pass a driving test. In my esperience the worst drivers are in those states and in this order: Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas, Jalisco, Zacatecas, MichoacÃ¡n, Veracruz. The best educated drivers I've seen: Aguascalientes, QuerÃ©taro, Guanajuato, Nuevo LeÃ³n, Estado de MÃ©xico (not MÃ©xico city). I don't know well enough others.

On the other hand, toll highways are the way to take, no matter it is day or night. The toll haighways are similar to the interstate highways in USA, but the "free" highways really su.ck, and your life is in danger.

Was it clear enough?

Chinguis Jan

ItÂ´s just like any other place, it might be unsafe because of the crime. And nothing has ever happened to an American in Mexico in many many years.

If i knew would i bother to ask?

it's just plain dangerous! many crooks trying to get an easy buck! well bucks ja, ja , ja

u might get robbed or killed !
especially in mexico city!
i've been to Toluca Edo.Mex. not as bad
i think is mostly dangerous in he city!

The Boss

ooo bad idea...

azza

The truth is, you probably would be safe to drive in Mexico at night. The chances of anything happening are quite low.

But still, the question is, why would you want to? Even the toll roads are poorly lit and drivers often drive without headlights. Truck drivers often drive drunk or high as well. Robbery isnt such a huge problem now as it used to be, but it's still a small risk on second class roads.

Then you have the police checkpoints to pass which are easier done in daylight hours, and finally off the toll roads (and sometimes ON them), you have to negotiate the "Topes": They're speedbumps that are often poorly marked and hard to see in daylight, and near impossible to see at night. Hit one of them a 80Km/h and you'll know it.

Then you have a whole assortment of people, animals and junk on and beside the road that is hard to see as well.

Of course, not ALL roads in Mexico are like this, but enough are like this (Especially in Chiapas and Oaxaca) to make driving at night a real pain in the neck. It's probably safe enough, but just a real hassle.

velsy

em i travel to Guadalajara from Washington state.no problems..i see why not

- Polka Dot -

because the chupakabra might eat you !!!
lol j/k i dont know ...
sorry
:-(

Harmony

Because there are people who like to rob drivers at night. Especially Americans because they think were filthy rich. Oh and it doesn't help if you have blond hair and blue eyes. You really 'stand out'.

dvcgurl

because my uncle grove at night and its really scary theres people who can rob at night etc

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