[video=youtube;h2G6n-pveD4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=h2G6n-pveD4&NR=1[/video]
Here in Miami, we have a lot of drivers who it seems, have never had any experience with a machine more complicated than a plow. I always follow several car lengths behind, assume that others are drunk, high or both, look in the mirror every few seconds, and if I get honked at by some impatient fool, try to get him to pass me, so I can keep an eye on him better. I have been rear ended while waiting at stoplights twice in 20 years.
I have traveled in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador and most of Mexico and Central America, but I always take a bus or when necessary, a taxi. The cost of renting a car is excessive and I am pretty sure that I am likely to be safer, even though I might have to take a bit longer. I drove my car in Mexico, even in Mexico City, but only when I was in a hurry and needed to take the Perif?rico, which at the time excluded buses.
The bus drivers in Ecuador from Otavalo and Quito down to Vilcabamba are the best I have ever seen. The Interamerican Highway through Ecuador is almost entirely switchbacks, and despite the fact that the highway looks new, there are a lot of washouts and landslides.