Driving in the City of Oaxaca

After about 3 days of white-knuckle driving in Oaxaca, you start to get into the groove of the city and its drivers. I am a natural now. Some observations and tips:

(1) Anyone who is 18 or older can get a license in Mexico, no test is required. Literally, a blind person can obtain a driver's license. Assume all drivers around you are 18-year-old, blind, first-time drivers.

(2) Go with the flow. Many intersections do not have stop (alto) signs or traffic lights. You have to observe the flow of traffic to know which street has developed an unwritten right of way. Always best to pause at an unmarked intersection until you know its "rule."

(3) There are no painted lanes. Don't look for them. You make your own lane. Just get behind a car that seems to be moving at a nice clip and keep following it.

(4) Many drivers consider red lights optional, so expect that drivers will occasionally run them. Buses notoriously treat red lights as yield signs.

(5) Many one-way streets are not marked. You just have to know. People will honk at you to let you know.

(6) Ignore people honking at you (or, at least, don't take it personally). If you don't want to run the red light, ignore the guy behind you who is laying on the horn.

(7) Topes (speed bumps) are everywhere in a fruitless attempt to control speed. They are not always marked. ¡Ai chihuahua!

(8) Pedestrians are amused and confused if you stop for them (even at a marked pedestrian crossing). Still, I do. Again, ignore the guy behind you honking because you stopped for the pedestrian.

(9) Sometimes there are 5 or 6 one-way and two-way streets that come together at a single traffic signal intersection/circle, but not all the street have signals. I don't know what you do. If you figure it out, please e-mail me.

(10) Sometimes traffic stops completely because of a strike, a parade or a spontaneous beer party. Have your iPod with you. You might be there a while.

In truth, I am amazed at how few accidents I have seen. There is a common mentality and set of unwritten rules regarding rights of way, speed, managing intersections, etc. You will pick it up after driving a few days. It's like learning the language through immersion.