Topes
The caravan leaders voice announces over the CB “toe-pee ahead, no it’s not a Mexician bird ahead, it’s a warning to slow down and be attentive, for coming up is a speed bump with attutide!
In Mexico speed limit signs, stop signs, and no passing zones are merely suggestions that most Mexicans don’t heed, but topes are for real, slowing down the most macho driver.
Topes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are wide and gentle, while others are narrow and abrupt. Some give you plenty of warning while others blend in with the road and jar the inattentive to wakefulness.
There are concrete topes, asphalt topes, dirt topes, metal disk topes, and worse than all the rope topes, the ropes are big ones from ocean going ships. Then there’s the fake topes, just a wide line painted across the street or highway but a menacing sight nonetheless.
Vibradores mark an upcoming dangerous curve, and sometimes a tope field, topes are often placed several hundred feet apart to keep you going slow through a town.
Some topes are marked with road signs indicating the distance in meters to the approaching tope. Drivers are also warned of upcoming topes by various road signs. One type of a sign is a car with it’s front end (probably out of alignment), perched on a ramp. Another is two mounds affectionately called Dolly Partons.
Topes, tumulos, vibradores, speed bumps, whatever you call them they are something to slow down for and that’s their purpose, and we RESPECT them!
Todos Santos
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