The roads of Mexico

I shall begin with speed bumps, which fall into several categories:
a) mountainous speed bumps which would take the axle off your average car at 60 kmh.
b) invisible speed bumps which are self explanatory.
c) fake speed bumps, which have all the yellow striped markings of your average bump but without the bump.
d) informal bumps, which are bumps you need to slow down for but were not designed as such.
then there's e) your normal bump with it's markings and advance warning sign - a picture of a bump or the word "tope".

If there's anything I have learnt about driving here it is that you need to know I) how to get
from a to b but equally II) the precise road surfaces along the way. The need for the second type of knowledge will be obvious when I describe to you the (now filled in) mega holes on the inside lane of a curve under a bridge on the 6 lane Periferico. If you don't know they're there you are f*****.

You need pretty good 360 degree vision to drive safely as cars cut in, pull out and overtake from all possible angles. The main urban motorways have side roads, or "laterales" on the other side of a low concrete bank. In heavy traffic this bank is crossed at will by vehicles with enough clearance below. Roundabouts, according to Sofia's father Rafael, have the same basic rule as roundabouts in the UK. The only problem is that the rules are disregarded. At first site it appeared to me to be like an advanced game of chicken, he who dares to accelerate into a space on the roundabout, has the right to it. On mature reflection it is indeed a game of chicken, it is just that everyone knows that in advance what sort of game they are playing. If the space is yours you should take it. In this ad hoc system there are a few crimes: going slow, hesitating and stopping. All things I like to do if I'm not quite sure of the situation.

A couple of weeks ago I drove back from Cuernavaca on a Friday night across Mexico City from south to north. It was my first time driving across the city and I was pretty proud of myself - and a big thank you to Sofia for guiding me. There was only one "go slow" and it turned out to be because a massive billboard by the side of the Periferico had collapsed across a side road and over a house. The fire brigade were in attendance and everyone was "rubber necking it" to such an extent that the traffic nearly stopped without any actual obstruction. Also I remembered to hang a right on a motorway bridge - the left hand lane is incomplete and ends hanging just like that - a fact which is not terribly well signposted.

On a marathon journey across Chiapas we passed three roadside accidents which could have had a fatality in each. Then the following day we stopped for breakfast in a restaurant. Sofia bought a newspaper just to break into a large note. The first page was full of car accident news including black and white photographs of the victims. Apparently road accidents are the biggest cause of death in Mexico City, which is linked to the widespread drink driving habits of the young.

Probably the worst drivers are the taxi drivers of Mexico City. While in London Sofia said I drove like one of them. Over here in Mexico I think my driving has become rather tamer.