This information may change. Always check the official source.Last verified: August 2026 by

Driving in Mexico: the three basics

Drives on the
right

The driver sits on the left and overtakes on the left. Roundabouts turn anticlockwise.

Your licence
Licence plus an IDP

Your own licence works with an International Driving Permit beside it. Get the permit at home before you fly - no country issues one for another country's licence.

Motorways
Tolls by distance

Motorways charge for the distance driven, at barriers or by camera. Budget for it on a long drive; it is rarely trivial.

The toll roads (cuotas) run beside free roads (libres). The cuota is faster, safer and expensive; the libre is neither of the first two.

Mexican toll roads are expensive and worth every peso; the free roads beside them are slow and, at night, not advisable.

Two parallel networks: the cuota you pay for and the libre you do not, and the difference is more than speed.

  • Take the cuota. The toll roads are faster, better maintained and better policed. The free libre runs through every village with topes - speed bumps that will destroy a low car at speed.
  • Mexican liability insurance is compulsory and a foreign policy does not satisfy it. Cars hired locally include it; a car driven down from the United States needs a Mexican policy bought at the border.
  • Do not drive intercity at night. Unlit vehicles, animals and the risk of roadblocks are the standard local advice, and hire agreements sometimes make it a condition.
  • Fuel is sold by attendants and the pump should be at zero before they start. Pemex is the default, and cards are accepted at most but not all stations.
  • Toll plazas take cash and cards, and the IAVE tag is common in hire cars.

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Sources (1)

What this guide was checked against. Rules and prices change — follow the official link before you rely on a detail.