Driving
The first time you drive in Juarez, it will frustate and/or scare the heck
out of you. It IS different than driving in the U.S.. The drivers are
different, the streets are different, the police are different, ...
The drivers are really not required to have any skills whatsoever. About 1%
of them drive like they have their eyes closed. On a wide street, the left
lane might be for left-turners. All bets are off on what the drivers in the
second lane will do. Some will turn left, some will go straight. It is very
common for a driver to turn left, while the driver to his left is going
straight. Be very cautious if your car is too nice-looking
to take a few dents.
There are a lot of one-way streets in Juarez. The bad part is that they are
not well-marked. Thus, it is easy to turn onto a street and find yourself
driving in the opposite direction from the traffic. I don't turn unless
I am sure of the flow of traffic. One nice clue is the direction of the
parked cars. Something else is that there are special lanes on some streets
(16th of September in particular)
that go against the flow. They are separated
by metal bumps about 6 inches high by 8 inches wide.
Besides driving the wrong way on a one-way street, another good way to get
stopped by the police is to zoom past a hospital or school. These are marked
by signs that say 'Zona Escolar' (school zone) or 'Zona Hospital'.
When you are waiting in line in your car, especially at the bridges,
you will sooner or later come to the conclusion that Juarenses are among the
biggest jerks in the world. They actually are funny in this respect;
face-to-face, they are wonderful people (except the ones with some money).
When you are just a car to them, or part of a crowd,
and not a human being, they are the exact
opposite. When I have lived over there, and crossed the bridge in the morning,
some of them try very hard to cut in front of other drivers. This is very
much a game of chicken. I suggest you stay very close to the car in front
of you if you are in a lane from which someone can cut in front of you.
Show them you are aggressive. The other approach is to let all of them
cut in front of you. That wouldn't work for me, but it might for you.
The police frequently drive with their flashing lights on at night. This does
not mean you should pull over. I don't really know what it means, but they
usually don't expect you to pull over. People talk all the time about the
police soliciting bribes from drivers. I know it happens, because I hear
people tell me it does, but I have driven over there hundreds of times,
and the police have been more professional to me than the EPPD. If a Juarez
cop does ask for a bribe, keep in mind that Mexicans pay around $5-10. If
you look like you can afford $100, they might ask for that much. Tell them
you can't afford it.
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