Driving me crazy!!
Mexico City drivers are crazy. And I have to include myself in that category.
When I first brought my car down here, I had pretty low standards for success. I remember the first day I drove to work — I managed to get there somehow, without hitting anyone or getting hit, or getting carjacked or anything like that. And I was pretty darn proud of myself. Those were the days.
Four years later, I am not so easy on myself or other drivers. I still have not gotten carjacked, although I have gotten (non-seriously) hit a couple of times. With the number of vehicles in this city, I think that's to be expected. In fact, I saw a statistic the other day that 25% of all Mexico City cars are in an accident every year.
The good part about chilango drivers is that they are extremely attentive. You never know when an obstacle or unexpected situation is going to arise, so you can't really be reading the paper or painting your nails or staring off into space like you can while you drive in the U.S. In the U.S., if a lane is going to end, you get plenty of notice. If there's a sinkhole and you fall into it, you can sue someone. Here, you'd just better keep your eyes open is all.
So that's one good thing about Mexico City drivers. Another good thing is... ummm... well, I can't really think of anything else because these people (again, myself included now) are psychos behind the wheel. Outside of their vehicles, Mexicans are extremely polite and conflict averse. I think they're making up for that in the car, because if you need to merge into another lane, cross the street or depend on the kindness of strangers in any other way, Blanche, I feel sorry for you.
You have to be aggressive to get anywhere here. Literally. Once in awhile I see someone who's waiting and waiting and waiting for someone else to let them in, and I imagine how that person will be sitting in that same position all day, until his car runs out of gas, and then that car will probably sit there all night because no one will stop to let the person cross the street to get help. Maybe some people never leave their driveways for this very reason!
This past week has been an especially cruel one, traffic wise. There is a lot of construction going on, plus all othe kids are back in school, and that means traffic is terrible. A lot of days it takes me an hour or more to get home, and work stress plus working mom stress means I am not at my most sane behind the wheel. The other day it took me THREE HOURS to get home from work, after an evening event. It was only 2.5 hours in the car, though, because I had to stop for half an hour at my mother-in-law's house and feed William (who was crying in the car) and take a breath before I absoutely lost my mind.
The next morning, as my dear Facebook and Twitter friends know, I lost my sideview mirror to a semi who got too close. It was one of those classic Mexico City situations — he wanted to get in my lane and for some reason (I am crazy, or some silly notion of fairness), I didn't want to let him in. I saw that he didn't really care what I felt and he was going, so I stopped and just watched as his trailer got closer and closer to my left side and then my sideview mirror crunched and bent back and flopped over. (His insurance is paying, by the way, so this was a best case scenario.)
That same morning, about 10 minutes later, inching through traffic so bad it HAD to indicate an accident up ahead, I saw a dead guy lying in the middle of the street, apparently a pedestrian. Cops were directing traffic around him but no one had bothered to cover his face or anything. I only got a glance as I drove by but it was pretty horrific, and made me almost forget the mirror incident.
Yesterday, this happened. A raging driver actually shot at a school bus with kids on it. Because the bus driver wouldn't let the person pass him. Fortunately, everyone was OK.
I think I've made my point. Driving here is as insane as you've probably heard. I am doing my best to relax and return to my early days of just being happy to arrive at my destination. Serenity now!
When I first brought my car down here, I had pretty low standards for success. I remember the first day I drove to work — I managed to get there somehow, without hitting anyone or getting hit, or getting carjacked or anything like that. And I was pretty darn proud of myself. Those were the days.
Four years later, I am not so easy on myself or other drivers. I still have not gotten carjacked, although I have gotten (non-seriously) hit a couple of times. With the number of vehicles in this city, I think that's to be expected. In fact, I saw a statistic the other day that 25% of all Mexico City cars are in an accident every year.
The good part about chilango drivers is that they are extremely attentive. You never know when an obstacle or unexpected situation is going to arise, so you can't really be reading the paper or painting your nails or staring off into space like you can while you drive in the U.S. In the U.S., if a lane is going to end, you get plenty of notice. If there's a sinkhole and you fall into it, you can sue someone. Here, you'd just better keep your eyes open is all.
So that's one good thing about Mexico City drivers. Another good thing is... ummm... well, I can't really think of anything else because these people (again, myself included now) are psychos behind the wheel. Outside of their vehicles, Mexicans are extremely polite and conflict averse. I think they're making up for that in the car, because if you need to merge into another lane, cross the street or depend on the kindness of strangers in any other way, Blanche, I feel sorry for you.
You have to be aggressive to get anywhere here. Literally. Once in awhile I see someone who's waiting and waiting and waiting for someone else to let them in, and I imagine how that person will be sitting in that same position all day, until his car runs out of gas, and then that car will probably sit there all night because no one will stop to let the person cross the street to get help. Maybe some people never leave their driveways for this very reason!
This past week has been an especially cruel one, traffic wise. There is a lot of construction going on, plus all othe kids are back in school, and that means traffic is terrible. A lot of days it takes me an hour or more to get home, and work stress plus working mom stress means I am not at my most sane behind the wheel. The other day it took me THREE HOURS to get home from work, after an evening event. It was only 2.5 hours in the car, though, because I had to stop for half an hour at my mother-in-law's house and feed William (who was crying in the car) and take a breath before I absoutely lost my mind.
The next morning, as my dear Facebook and Twitter friends know, I lost my sideview mirror to a semi who got too close. It was one of those classic Mexico City situations — he wanted to get in my lane and for some reason (I am crazy, or some silly notion of fairness), I didn't want to let him in. I saw that he didn't really care what I felt and he was going, so I stopped and just watched as his trailer got closer and closer to my left side and then my sideview mirror crunched and bent back and flopped over. (His insurance is paying, by the way, so this was a best case scenario.)
That same morning, about 10 minutes later, inching through traffic so bad it HAD to indicate an accident up ahead, I saw a dead guy lying in the middle of the street, apparently a pedestrian. Cops were directing traffic around him but no one had bothered to cover his face or anything. I only got a glance as I drove by but it was pretty horrific, and made me almost forget the mirror incident.
Yesterday, this happened. A raging driver actually shot at a school bus with kids on it. Because the bus driver wouldn't let the person pass him. Fortunately, everyone was OK.
I think I've made my point. Driving here is as insane as you've probably heard. I am doing my best to relax and return to my early days of just being happy to arrive at my destination. Serenity now!
Much of your blog reminds of experiences I've had driving in Los Angeles.
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You have made me feel pretty wimpy in my concerns and stress about D.C. driving! But I know the D.F. too! Beep Beep!
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When I lived in the D.F. the cross street next to my apartment was being changed from a one way going east to going west. There was a sizable barricade up while the work was being done. One night, after getting off the bus, I watched a small woman get out of her car, move the barricade, drive up the closed road, stop, and put the barricade back in place. I've always said driving in Mexico was best left to the Mexicans and the criminally insane. Man, I miss that city!
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