Motorists and Mobility Control: Mexico City in the Early 20th Century

Abstract

The increase in automobile use in Mexico City in the first two decades of the twentieth century generated conflicts over the use of streets, urban circulation and road safety. As a consequence, speeding, disobedience of traffic regulations, congestion and road accidents became increasingly common. This article studies these problems and the scope and limits of the regulations and enforcement bodies established by the local authorities that tried to control them. It identifies the content of the regulations; the profile of speeding offenders from the political and economic elites; and the material incompatibility between automobiles and other transportation systems. It is concluded that automobiles intensified traffic congestion and the incidence of road accidents due to their conflictive nature.