As if the massive increase in traffic hasn´t been enough, motorcycle accidents have become a growing problem in Los Cabos. With an average of one accident per day, vehicle collisions involving motorcyclists have been increasing at an alarming rate in Cabo San Lucas, according to data from our local volunteer Fire Department.
In an interview with our local radio station, Juan Antonio Carbajal, commander of the Cabo San Lucas Fire Department, expressed his concern about the road safety situation.
"They are on the rise. We don’t have a day without a crash or hit-and-run, and motorcycle accidents are happening every day. Given how difficult it is to drive a vehicle on the roads, many people have opted to buy motorcycles and this daily convergence between the motorist and the motorcyclist has led to many more crashes,” said Commander Carbajal.
There is also an increase in the number of people ordering home delivery, which has increased the number of two-wheel drivers making those Uber Eats and Didi app delivery orders.
The National Transparency Portal, as of July of this year, reported that of the 1,035 traffic accidents recorded in Los Cabos during the first seven months of 2024, 70.6% occurred within the Cabo San Lucas city limits.
As an individual who drives daily around all the streets of this town, I observe that most of the people on motorcycles drive around dangerously as if this town were their personal playground. Zooming in and out of lanes, they breeze by vehicles waiting for the lights to change.
During two recent trips to La Paz, I noticed a motorcycle in the rear-view mirror, positioned where U.S. law states they´re supposed to be -- behind the vehicle just over a driver´s right shoulder. They never raced past me or zipped by like some maniac running late for his funeral.
In Cabo, they drive around as if they are invincible, when in fact, in any accident, they are the most vulnerable and race past you on the right side. Wrong damn side! The same can be said of them zipping equally fast past your vehicle on the left side.
It's the little city bikes I refer to, not Harley Davidsons that you can hear meters away, and that tend to always roll mean and lean, just doing the speed limit and driving as safely as possible. It seems pretty apparent they have no proper motorcycle driving training and simply jumped on their bikes and off they went as soon as they obtained their driving license.
And I can only guess that because there isn´t any driving test for an automobile, except for one in print and there isn´t one for motorcycles either. And you´ll see them every day. Some bikes have three people on them. Some have the father driving and the mother holding on from behind with one or two children between them. It´s outrageous and dangerous, and yet, they´re out there every day.
Anyone out there driving for groceries or to go visit friends really must be cautious and very aware of these blazing-fast bike drivers that can appear out of nowhere. ,
