I’ve seen makeshift topes materialize in upper-class neighborhoods from one day to the next, and I’ve seen topes that were built, I’m convinced, just to make drivers slow down for vendors who sell candy and water. In a country where impunity rules, topes are screams of frustration. There was no sign to warn of the giant mound of pavement, which meant that I hit the thing at full-on launch velocity. VideoThe 229th time I scraped the bottom of our Volkswagen over a tope — Mexico’s brand of speed bump — I swore as though I’d just been rear-ended by a truck. They’re a means of enforcing speed control and civility on the road, and they can’t be avoided.

Source: New York Times June 15, 2016 09:00 UTC