Topes, Reductors, Sleeping Policemen

Several of my blog readers have commented to me, asking about topes.  This is a Mexican phenomenon you certainly would not want to miss if you are driving in Mexico.  Basically, it is a really evil invention thought up by the muffler (Mofles) repair shops (Taller de Mofles) to guarantee a lifetime income.  I found a delightful article about topes on internet copyrighted by Bob Bowers, who says it better than me.  It is as follows:

“Although traffic signals are found in larger Mexican towns and cities, small villages and towns use topes (speed bumps) quite effectively to control traffic and prevent speeding. Mexican topes often are significant enough to require drivers to slow close to a full stop before crossing them. However, these speed deterrents are not always clearly marked (so true – T), and hitting one of them at even 25 miles per hour can be a bone-rattling experience, risking damage to your car as well. (I would say 5 miles an hour! – T)

Recognizing Topes (Speed Bumps) in Mexico

Topes aren't normally located in open road areas, but the smallest level of roadside business or habitation should alert the driver to scan the road surface. Most of the time (but not always) they are signed at the tope itself, although these signs may be unfamiliar to foreign drivers, hidden by shade, trees or other obstructions or simply too late for an unsuspecting motorist. However, once you hit one without having seen it, your observation skills will improve significantly.

Topes typically come in pairs, at least, with one controlling the speed of traffic coming into town from one direction, and the other doing the same for traffic entering from the opposite end. However, these two topes are usually signed from the approaching traffic side only, even though they will extend across both lanes of the road. In other words, if you see a signed tope as you enter the town, be alert for another unsigned one as you leave.

Mexican Tope (Speed Bump) Signs

Sometimes, particularly in the suburbs of larger towns, warning signs are located some distance from the tope, such as "Tope a 100 m" (tope one hundred meters ahead). Drivers should familiarize themselves with this and other road signs to prepare for what lies ahead.

Topes are not always labeled "topes", a term that is more common in northern Mexico than in the central highlands or the south. "Reductor" is used more often in the south, which means "reducer", as in "velocity reducer", but the speed bumps are the same. "Vibradores" (vibrators) is a term used for a different type of speed-reducer, basically cross-grooved pavement. These are typically used before busy intersections or in front of pedestrian crossings, and will make a lot of noise, but not jar a vehicle like a speed bump.

Find Mexican Speed Bumps (Topes) By Watching Other Drivers

One of the best methods for locating speed bumps is to watch other vehicles, particularly in congested areas and through towns. Watch both the vehicles in your lane and those approaching. If they slow significantly or rise up in the roadway, they are crossing topes.

Similarly, if there are people selling goods or collecting donations in the center of the road, they are almost always standing at a tope, knowing that vehicles will slow to a stop.

Mexican Topes Can Work to the Driver's Advantage

Besides controlling speeders without using traffic police, topes actually can be beneficial to the driver. For one, having to slow down to a crawl or stop where street vendors congregate gives you the opportunity to try local products at good prices. Delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice, paper cups of fresh-cut fruit and hot tortillas are sometimes available at these speed bumps.

If you are trying to enter a high-traffic road from a side street, topes on the primary street will act like a stop sign for the oncoming cars, giving you a chance to merge in.

In addition, if you have been stuck behind a slow truck, coming on to a tope gives you the opportunity to pass the slower vehicle as you cross the tope.  (So true, I see this happening all the time, and have done it myself – T)

Avoiding Topes in Mexico Altogether

Anyone driving in Mexico will encounter topes, but drivers can minimize these occasions by sticking to toll roads (cuotas, autopistas) as much as possible. Toll roads provide comparatively safe, tope-free links between larger cities, bypassing the smaller towns and villages that rely on topes for speed control.

Living With Topes (Speed Bumps) in Mexico

Topes are an integral part of the driving experience in Mexico. Tourists will enjoy their driving experience much more and lower their blood pressure by learning what to expect with topes and how to use them to their advantage.”  ©Bob Bowers

I have driven in Mexico off and on since 1967, and experienced topes from the beginning.  We had topes in San Miguel de Allende, but nothing like here in Oaxaca.  They are obsessed with them and in all heights and widths, some with signs but many without. The ones in the shade of trees are the real killers.  I guess I will just have to take Bob Bowers advice, and accept them as an integral part of the charm of Mexican life, thereby lowering my blood pressure!

A typical topes warning sign in Oaxaca

Quirky Living Note

In the U.S. we now have mobile charging stations for electric cars, but a sight on a street near our casa really surprised me.  A guy in an electric wheel chair was at the side of the road (no sidewalk) talking with a man over a high fence.  I then noticed the electric cord through the fence plugged into the wheel chair.  WOW, wait until the enforcers of the ADA in the U.S. hear about this!