Driving in Mexico

Right

Vehicles must be driven in the right-hand lane of a federal highway. You may leave it to overtake, where the road is too narrow for two lanes, where the right half is blocked, or on a one-way road.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Left

Overtake on the left and return to the right-hand lane as soon as you can. You may pass on the right in only two cases: the vehicle ahead is about to turn left, or the road has two or more lanes in your direction. Never overtake on the hard shoulder, and never across a solid line.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

110 km/h

This is the most a sign may post for a car on a federal highway. Buses are capped at 95 and lorries at 80. The limit is always the one on the sign; 110 is the ceiling, not an entitlement. States and cities set lower limits on their own roads.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 80 km/h The centre lanes of a controlled-access road, which is what the city's urban motorways are. The side roads beside them count as secondary streets and are 40. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

100 km/h

The default for a car on a federal highway where no sign gives a limit. It drops to 90 at night. Buses get 95 by day and 80 at night, lorries 80 and 70. State highways are state law.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

50 km/h

Where a federal highway runs through a built-up area it becomes a "carretera urbana" and the default is 50, day and night, for every class of vehicle. Inside a town the town's own rules apply instead.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 50 km/h Primary roads. The figure applies where no sign says otherwise; the sign always wins. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City 40 km/h Secondary streets, including the side roads of a controlled-access road. Lower limits sit inside this: 30 in a signed calmed-traffic zone, 20 near schools, hospitals, care homes and shelters, and 10 in car parks and on pedestrian streets that allow cars. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

0.8 g/l

The federal highway limit. A breath reading above 0.4 mg/l is the same offence. This is high by European standards and many states set a lower figure, so treat it as a ceiling and not a guide. Refusing the test is punished as if you had failed it. Drink nothing before you drive.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 0.8 g/l A breath reading above 0.4 mg/l is the same offence. The penalty is not a fine: it is 20 to 36 hours of administrative arrest that cannot be converted into money, six licence points, and the car goes to the pound. The city runs breath-test checkpoints, the "alcoholímetro" programme, and you cannot refuse. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

0.3 g/l

Drivers of federal freight and passenger transport, and of private transport operating under federal permit. The same paragraph also states the breath limit as 0.0 mg/l, which is stricter than the 0.3 g/l blood figure; the two do not describe the same threshold.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 0 g/l Zero, in blood and in breath alike, for drivers of public passenger transport, school and staff transport, emergency vehicles, freight and hazardous loads. Smelling of alcohol is enough. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Insurance certificate
• Spare tyre or repair kit
• Vehicle registration document

The insurance is the one that catches people out. Every vehicle on a federal road, highway or bridge must have third-party liability cover, and Mexico City requires that the policy come from an insurer authorised by the Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas. Your own country's policy does not satisfy that. Buy a Mexican policy before you drive, and keep it in the car with the registration card. Minimum cover set by the Secretaría de Hacienda is 100,000 pesos for injury or death and 50,000 pesos for property damage. A car must also carry a spare tyre, inflated and in good condition; motorcycles and bicycles are excused. Cities add to this list — Mexico City also wants a fire extinguisher and two warning devices.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City
  • Fire extinguisher
  • Two warning triangles
  • Spare tyre or repair kit
  • Insurance certificate
  • Vehicle registration document
  Every motor vehicle in the city must carry a fire extinguisher, two reflective or luminous warning devices, a spare tyre and the tools to change or repair it. Run-flat tyres or an equivalent system replace the spare. The insurance policy must be current and issued by an insurer authorised by the Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas — a foreign policy does not meet that. Carry the registration card too, physical or digital; with foreign plates, carry the papers describing the vehicle and proving it is legally in the country. At a checkpoint the officer asks for licence, registration card and insurance policy together. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Only in poor visibility

Cars do not run headlights in daylight. Switch the main beams on at night and whenever visibility drops. Use dipped beam in lit areas and where a vehicle is coming the other way; main beam only where the road is unlit. Motorcycles are different and must always show a light.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City Not allowed You may not use a phone or any communication device while the vehicle is moving. Pull over and stop first. This is one of the more expensive tickets in the city regulation and carries three licence points. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City Not allowed The rule bans using a phone at all while the vehicle is moving and makes no exception for hands-free. Set your route before you drive: a map or satnav may only be handled with the vehicle stopped. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Not allowed

On a federal highway a red light is an order to stop before the pedestrian crossing and wait. Only a green light, or a green arrow, authorises you to move off or turn. A flashing red means stop first, then go when it is safe. Cities differ: Mexico City allows a right turn where a sign says so.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City Only where a sign allows it By default you stop at the line and wait. A "vuelta continua a la derecha" sign allows a continuous right turn even while the traffic going straight has a red light. There is also a night rule: between 23:00 and 05:00 you must stop completely at a red light and may then go on once you are sure no pedestrian or vehicle is crossing. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Traffic already on the roundabout goes first

Traffic already going round has priority. Drive round the roundabout keeping the centre island on your left.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Yes — traffic from the right goes first at unmarked junctions

On a federal road with no signals, no signs and no priority marking, give way to traffic coming from your right. Two exceptions: you keep priority if your road is wider or carries more traffic than the other, or if the road on the right is unpaved. At a crossroads with no control at all, everyone stops and the vehicle on the other's right goes first.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Everyone, in every seat

The driver and every passenger must wear the belts the vehicle is fitted with. Check the rear belts in an older hire car before you set off.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City Everyone, in every seat The driver must put on their own belt and make sure every passenger is wearing theirs correctly. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City 12 years A child under 12 must ride in a certified child restraint or booster seat, correctly fitted with a proper anchorage. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City 145 cm The rule bites on either count: under 12 years old or under 1.45 metres tall. A tall 11-year-old still needs the seat. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

7 years

In a car or people carrier on a federal highway, a child under 7 must travel in a rear seat. The federal regulation stops there and says nothing about a child seat. Cities are stricter — Mexico City sets the age at 12 and also requires a proper child restraint.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 12 years Children under 12, or under 1.45 metres, must sit in a rear seat with a three-point belt, in the row immediately behind the front seats. The only exception is a vehicle with no rear seat at all, and then the airbag must be switched off. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City
  • Red kerb — no stopping. You may not even stop, except for a red light or on an officer's instruction.
  • Yellow kerb — no parking. Yellow paint on the kerb or on the road surface marks a no-parking area.
  Two colours to learn. Red on the kerb means do not stop. Yellow on the kerb or the road means do not park. Bays painted blue are reserved for particular vehicles and are not general paid parking. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City Not allowed Parking on a pavement, a pedestrian crossing, a pedestrian street or a cycle lane is banned, and any part of the car over the line is enough. Parking on a primary road is banned too, as is parking on or under a bridge or flyover and inside a tunnel. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City Not allowed The car must face the direction of travel, and in town it must sit within 30 cm of the edge of the carriageway. Facing the wrong way is a separate offence from parking in the wrong place. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City
  • A junction — 7.5 m
  • A level crossing — 10 m
  Measured from the kerb line of the side street, and from any railway crossing. Two more distances are set but do not fit this list: 6 metres from the entrance to a fire or emergency vehicle station, and 25 metres either side of that entrance on the opposite pavement. Never park in front of a fire hydrant, a bank, a school entrance, a hospital entrance, a wheelchair ramp or a garage entrance; no distance is given, the ban is absolute. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City
  • A fine
  • A wheel clamp
  • Towing
  All three are used. Most of the parking bans on the list send the car to the pound by tow truck. A wheel clamp is used in its own set of cases, and there is a separate charge for taking it off. Getting a towed car back means paying the fines first. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Not required

No winter tyre rule exists. The law asks only for pneumatic tyres in a condition that grips the road even when it is wet, plus a spare. Snow is rare outside the high mountains.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Not allowed on clear roads

Chains, metal tyres and similar fittings may be used only when there is snow, ice or something else on the road that would make the car slide. At all other times a tyre may not carry studs, blocks or any protrusion that is not rubber. Nobody has to carry chains.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Required for rider and passenger

Rider and every passenger, on a motorcycle, a trike or a quad. There is no engine-size exemption: the federal regulation treats any two-wheeled motor vehicle as a motorcycle.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City Required for rider and passenger A purpose-made motorcycle helmet, properly fitted and fastened, with no visible cracks or damage, and the rider must make sure the passenger wears one too. The regulation specifies the shell, the impact liner, the comfort liner, the retention system and the visor. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City None — you need a motorcycle licence A car licence covers no two-wheeler at all. A motorcyclist needs a type A1, A2 or A licence. The permanent type A licence issued from 16 November 2024 does not cover motorcycles either, despite the letter. Minors may hold a car permit but may not ride a motorcycle. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

18 years

18 on a federal highway, for any two-wheeler. Mexico has no moped class in federal law, so a 50 cc scooter is a motorcycle and the same age applies. Licences are issued by the states, so check the state you will ride in.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City 18 years Motorcycles may not be ridden by anyone under 18. There is no smaller class. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No single national answer — it depends on the region:

• Mexico City Allowed, with restrictions Riding between lanes is banned while traffic is moving. It is allowed only when traffic has stopped and you are moving up to the marked motorcycle waiting box at the lights, or to a visible spot to set off from, without entering the pedestrian crossing. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No minimum — any motorbike or scooter may use the motorway

The federal regulation lists what may not use a controlled-access federal highway: riders on animals, animal-drawn vehicles, and bicycles, tricycles, trikes and quads. Two-wheeled motorcycles are not on that list, so any size of motorcycle may use one. Cities do set floors — Mexico City keeps anything under 250 cc out of the centre lanes of its urban motorways.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City
  • Engine at least 250 cc
  A motorcycle under 250 cc may not use the centre lanes of a controlled-access road, so a machine of exactly 250 cc qualifies and anything smaller does not. Motorcycles are also barred from the upper decks of the city's double-level motorways, and from any road where a sign restricts them. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

Required at all times

A motorcycle must be ridden with its lights on at all times, day and night.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Mexico City Required at all times Front and rear lights on at all times. Reflective bands are also required at night. Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

• Toll booths

Drivers who choose a controlled-access federal highway pay at the booths, called casetas, installed for the purpose. These paid roads are the "cuota" network; a free "libre" road usually runs alongside, slower and through the towns. CAPUFE, the federal operator, also sells an IAVE electronic tag for the tag lanes. Passing a booth without paying is fined and you are made to pay the toll on the spot.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

In some cities

The source here is Mexico City's own regulation, which requires drivers to obey the environmental programmes and to stay out of the city's "eco zones" and sustainable-mobility zones on the days and at the hours set. Mexico City also runs Hoy No Circula, which bars a car from driving on one weekday depending on its plate and its emissions sticker. A hire car with local plates may be affected; ask the hire company which day yours cannot drive.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

911

One number for police, fire and ambulance, 24 hours a day.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source

No

On a federal highway the officer writes a ticket and you pay within thirty working days. Nobody should be collecting cash at the roadside. Admitting the offence on the ticket cuts the fine by a quarter, and paying within fifteen working days cuts it by another quarter. For a serious or repeat offence the vehicle can be held as security until the fine is paid or guaranteed.

Checked 9 Sep 2026 · official source