Trip Planning, Gas, and Cops in Mexico

By Mexico Mike

This is the third in a series of guest posts by Mexico Mike about driving, insurance and documentation requirements in Mexico. During his tenure with Sanborn’s Mexico Insurance Service, Mike acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of Mexico’s highways. His familiarity with nation’s roadways  and unique perspective on why he believes the country is safer than the U.S. was the subject this New York Times story. On his   Web site, Mike offers driving tips, maps, and information on insurance requirements. He is also an expert on spas and hot springs in Mexico.

Maps & Trip Planning

For a trip-planner, I have a few and some maps on my shopping cart. Go to www.mexicomike.com, click “4 Sale” then you will see “Road Logs.” I also have four or five hand-crafted driving maps of different parts of the country.

The only all-Mexico highway map worth the money is the Guia Roji. Get the bound version if you are doing a lot of traveling and want to poke around. Otherwise get the fold-out. The bound version is about $30. You can find them at some convenience stores connected to gas stations and at book stores. You can also get it on Amazon.

Photo by Saad Akhtar (Via Creative Commons)

Gasoline and diesel

Unleaded gasoline and diesel are everywhere. Diesel is always cheaper than in the USA (now about $30 pesos a gallon or about $2.15 USD). Pemex (the Mexican gas producer/supplier/dispenser/gas stations) issued a statement in early January that the cost of gasoline was supposed to remain the same for all of 2009.

I have my doubts or me dudo, since it increased between Jan 12 and Jan. 31, so I would take the above statement with a grain of salt. It is currently $29.26 pesos a gallon or about $2.10 USD. Gas stations (Pemex) are often attached to convenience stores. Bathrooms are generally sparkling clean, cleaner than many at gas stations in Texas.

Cops

There are bypasses around every city and most small towns so that you can avoid city traffic and city cops. The salaries of local and state police were raised in the past few years, giving them less incentive for taking mordida or bribes for imaginary or real traffic offences.

I would be lying if I said there is absolutely no chance of encountering a corrupt cop, but it’s a lot less likely than it used to be.