There are people with the purpose of travelling on roads and enjoy these spectacular places. Unfortunately, Mexico is considered an insecure and conflict country, transforming enthusiasm into doubt. Did you know How Dangerous is Travelling by Highway in Mexico?
Roadways in Mexico are a wide network that connect impressive cities, towns and landscapes. However, for some people, travelling by these routes may be an uncertain and dangerous experience.
Why Mexico is Considered a Dangerous Country to Travel by Highway?
Mexico has built this fame due to crimes as robberies to carriers and motorists, kidnappings, organized crime and accidents, which are caused by the lack of road safety education, exceed speed limits, drive tired or in an inconvenient state and also the bad conditions of asphalt surface.
This is some information about robberies:
Robberies to Carriers:
- During 2023 were registered 10,044 robberies to carriers in federal highways. The states with higher incidence were Puebla, Guanajuato and Veracruz.
Robberies to Motorists:
- During the last year was a 14% increase compared with 2022. The highways with higher risk were Mexico-Veracruz, Mexico Puebla, Puebla-Orizaba.
Kidnapping:
- Crime has been rising and now is reaching other levels, as kidnap. During 2023 were presented 1,447 kidnappings in federal highways in states as Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Tabasco.
Accidents:
- An important factor that prevails in most of Mexican highways and over time… accidents. In 2023, around 34,681 accidents occurred in federal highways. Some of the main causes are: speed excess, drive under the influence of alcohol and the lack of seat belt wearing.
- The highways with most occurred accidents were Mexico-Queretaro, Mexico-Toluca, Monterrey-Saltillo.
Hard data informs about the dangers of travelling by highway: - 2023: 11,491 people died in traffic accidents in Mexico.
- 2023: 43,116 people were injured in traffic accidents in Mexico.
- The cost of traffic accidents in Mexico increased to 190 thousand millions of pesos in 2023.
Even though data is here and is real, is better to take a positive position and accept the fact that travelling by highway in Mexico is dangerous, but the magnitude of the risk may vary according to the route, hour and precautionary measures to take.
Precautionary Measures
And talking about precautionary topics, here are some recommendations to consider if you’re travelling by highway.
- Look up the state of highways before going out.
- Choose routes with lower crime rate.
- Travel during day.
- Respect Speed Limits.
- Don’t drive under alcohol or drug influence.
- Wear your seat belt.
- Have an emergency plan.
- Have a travel insurance.
- Add emergency numbers to your contacts.
