My oldest Son, and possibly myself, will be heading into Baja after RTR in January. We'll be on motorcycles so not real conducive to caravanning. But staying safe for the most part is no different than in the USA. I do know several people that travel south regularly. One thing they all recommend, is to not spend to much time near the border, and other normal tourist areas, as that is where problems can happen. What they do is cross the border first thing in the morning, at a smaller crossing like Tecate, and then not stop until they are a couple hours or so south. Once away from the borders the people for the most part are just hard working genuine simple people who will enrich your life if you take time to get to know them. I remember having a conversation with a lobster fisherman about how the traps worked. I only have a rudimentary understanding of Spanish, from working in the building trades all my life, and he only knew a few words of english. But he was still able to explain his work and we parted having formed a friendship.