The country of Mexico has an effective way to control speed by using speed bumps called "topes." For amusement, I began keeping track of how many of these speed bumps we drove over after we crossed the border. Since I kept a log of each day's activities on our recent drive through Mexico, it was easy to record each speed bump experience.
There are large speed bumps in Mexico and there are small ones. Sometimes we would drive over as many as fourteen speed bumps at the entrance of a town or in front of a school. Sometimes the speed bumps were painted yellow or there was a warning sign, but many times they lurked on the pavement ready to surprise travelers who weren't alert.
Lloyd has traveled in Mexico for many years and has learned a few things about watching for speed bumps. For one thing, he has learned not to be the lead car in a line of traffic. Staying behind someone and watching their brake lights saved us from being taken unaware by these brutal bumps.
Experiencing a speed bump in our long van is doubly uncomfortable. If a speed bump is not crossed at extremely low speed, every bit of cargo we carry will be tossed in the air and rearranged. And on our return to the United States another alignment of the front end will be necessary.
During our six days of traveling approximately 1,560 miles in Mexico, we experienced an amazing 690 of these very effective speed controlling bumps!
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