A bus carrying more than two dozen hotel employees to Tulum flipped onto its side on Tuesday evening after colliding with a private car on a highway stretch in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, in Mexico's Quintana Roo.
According to local reports, the bus was running its usual staff pickup route when it collided with the driver's side of a private car heading north. The impact threw the car off the highway into a ditch, while the bus — just a few kilometres from its Tulum destination — overturned with passengers on board. Police, Civil Protection and firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after 7:30 p.m., finding many of the hotel workers already out of the vehicle and walking along the roadside.
Most of those on board escaped with minor bumps and bruises, but two people were taken to the Felipe Carrillo Puerto hospital. The private car's driver is alleged to have invaded the bus's lane before the collision.
The crash comes only weeks after a far worse incident on roughly the same route: on October 7, another hotel staff bus travelling from Felipe Carrillo Puerto to Tulum left the highway, killing three people and injuring 20. Two serious bus accidents in a single month on this corridor has put a spotlight on road conditions and driver behaviour on the long stretch of highway connecting the inland Maya towns with the coast.
Why should holidaymakers pay attention? The road through Felipe Carrillo Puerto is the main inland route many shuttle buses, colectivos and rental cars take between the Cancún area, the interior, and Tulum and the Sian Ka'an region. Staff transport buses, tour coaches and shared shuttles all share this same highway, often at night, and passing traffic includes drivers overtaking in the oncoming lane. If you're renting a car or taking a shuttle to Tulum, the Bacalar direction or into the interior, it's worth avoiding night driving where you can, keeping speeds moderate on single-carriageway sections, and being patient behind slower buses rather than pulling out blind. Recent history suggests this stretch rewards defensive driving.
