Mexico: In Maddening Traffic, Even Road Rage Is Too Much Trouble

[cpzilliacus]

N.Y. Times: Mexico City Journal
In Maddening Traffic, Even Road Rage Is Too Much Trouble

From the top of a tall building on a clear night, the traffic here looks like a stream of light – bright white flowing one way, ruby red the other. On the ground, however, it's painfully obvious that the opposite is true: nearly everyone is stuck.

How stuck varies, but here in a crowded city of 20 million people and around four million cars, six-hour commutes are not uncommon. Some wedding receptions end more quickly than the time it takes to drive a dozen miles at 6 p.m.

Outsiders tend to be stunned. On YouTube, dozens of videos show visitors marveling at long lines of cars as motionless as a corpse, or drivers shamelessly ignoring red lights while traffic cops watch.

[agentsteel53]

And where are the traffic police, one might ask? Absent, mostly. If they happen to be at an intersection, they are rarely obeyed. In interviews, some say their bosses do not even give them tickets to hand out.

incorrect. 

I once was stuck in Mexico City traffic - it took me an hour and a half to do the last mile or so to get to the airport - and the traffic police quickly caught up to me, rattled off a list of crimes between fictitious and inevitable.  first it was "you were speeding" (not plausible, unless the speed limit is under 1 km/h).  then, "you made an illegal right turn on red".  (the light went through several cycles as I made the turn, very slowly.)  then "you ran a red light".  (see previous.)  okay, fine, you "blocked the path of pedestrians".  (shit, can't argue that.)  basically, once they realized I had a rental car, I was cooked.

as I had a flight to catch in 3 hours, I couldn't resolve the issue "next Monday, at the police headquarters", so I "paid the fine right here".  some cash and I parted ways and I made it to the airport in time.