Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

I might be immune to the seeing all the signs in the United States, but in Mexico there seems to be a sign for everything on the highway.  I bet I have counted over 100 different types of road signs.  Most of them are typical like "Curva Peligrosa" warning that a dangerous curve is ahead. However, there are some that makes you wonder if the Mexican version of the DOT is in cahoots with the sign makers. In other words its like some official said "Hey, let's get a kickback by putting a sign every 10 feet telling the drivers the most absurd things."

Below is just a sample of some of the more interesting ones.

No Destruya Las Señales - Don't Destroy The Signs (I swear this is an invitation to make sure the sign is destroyed, hence, the need for more road signs)
No Transite Sobre Franja Separadora Central - Don't Drive Down the Middle of the Road (I would say, DUH!, but you need to see my other post about driving in Mexico)
Maneje Con Precaucion - Drive With Caution (as opposed to driving without caution????)
Si Toma No Maneje - If You Drink, Don't Drive (and I thought drinking and driving was considered a national sport in Mexico)
Obedezca Las Señales - Obey the Signs (I guess it is necessary to have a sign telling drivers to obey the signs)

and my personal favorite....

No Deje Las Piedras Sobre El Acotamiento - Don't Leave Rocks On The Road

This last one is just plain puzzling.  When was the last time you left rocks on the road? Did anyone ever have to tell you not to leave rocks on the road?  Mexico has a sign telling you not to do this.  I'll make double sure that I never leave rocks on the road just because the sign told me so.

8 comments:

  1. Ok...my question is...who enforces these signs? Bawhhhhhhh...Nada...nobody!
    SO it's got to be some sort of governor owned sign shop...who's making a ton of money of the federal government....interesting..sounds like the US! Ummmm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mexican truckers use rocks to chock their tires, do what ever it is that they need to do and drive off leaving the rocks in the road.
    My favorite is the don't mistreat the signs, No maltratas los señales, it makes me envision road sigs crying 'cuz their feelings were hurt.
    regards,
    Theresa

    ReplyDelete
  3. I knew there must be a reason why one shouldn't leave rocks on the road. You'd think that the Mexican truck drivers would bring their own chocking devices. Or at least their own rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rita No WAY!! LMAO why have I never noticed any of this!! (I imagine I'm not doing a very good job of "obeying the signs" if I'm not reading them :P ) I don't notice any signs besides "Alto" and No estacionamiente. I guess it could be because I don't get what most of them say because they're in Spanish???

    Too funny though :) Great post ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting signs. I remember the song well. When I lived in Greece, I knew it was time to leave when I could read the signs in Greek as easily as I could read them in English. They often had both, but not usually in the same place.

    Does Mexico suffer from the locals littering out the car window? I saw this on Crete and it was sad. Such a beautiful island with litter lining the roadsides in all the heavily traveled areas.

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG, the other day I was driving in the middle of Reynosa when I saw a bus driver throwing CD's out the window. This was a local transit bus driver. They use old school busses from the USA for public transportation. That's going to be another blog that I've got on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  7. my favourite is ¨please pay for the food before eating¨ (super in Tulum) and i like the sign to Playa del Carmen that directs you straight ahead (derecho) when you need to turn right (derecha)and the sign for my village, Los Ingenios, spelled Los Hingenios.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This really is to funny. And like you know most people don't even notice them and I don't just mean the English speakers. My husband has a picture of a kangaroo warning sign from when he lived in Monclova. And no there are no kangaroos in Monclova.

    ReplyDelete