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Guera

Nov 19, 2005, 10:44 AM

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Beating a Dead Horse

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Heads up... it's Holiday season and the kind folks with the ''Transito'' need to buy Christmas presents.

http://www.guadalajarareporter.com/fullcover.cfm?id=4

I was caught in a speed trap on Aquaducto near the Chedraui in GDL. a couple of weeks ago. The posted limit of 60 is covered by a tree and hardly visible, and I was travelling at traffic pace. But because I have foreign plates I was pulled over.

I have a valid FM3 visa but the sticker on my car, because I entered on an FMT is of course expired. As has been discussed on this forum ad nauseum my car, in short, is legit.

This did not deter however the kind folks at Transito who insisted that my car was a chocolate and that it was only logical that I was in error and that didn't it seem wrong that I wasn't paying any duties or taxes etc.. etc....that my Notario lied to me and that all the gringos living in Chapala doing the same thing were all actually driving illegal chocolates too... and that ultimately while I might be legal my car was not (all three of them including the speed trap supervisor / Licenciado )

While I remained resolute in my conviction (just like George Bush) that my car was not chocolate , they were so insistant and persistant that they eventually convinced me that what I thought was wrong. They said they would be kind and only give me a speeding ticket and not take away my car or do anything else. So I took the ticket and then drove away very ticked off.

I went straight to the Notario's office and he said no, transito is wrong,

and that it is Xmas time hence the traps, and gave me the copy of the law. (Highlighted in pertinent areas )

He also mentioned that the only people who can take away my car are the Federales Fiscales and that if / when this happens again I should show them the law, because my car IS LEGIT in Mexico, and is part of my menaje de casa and falls under the law of the aduana. (Except of course if I let a Mexican drive my car alone..)

I've seen Transito on Aquaducto quite a bit lately since this has happened, stay at 60 to avoid the hassle.

Suerte y Feliz Navidad...

shoe

Nov 20, 2005, 4:51 AM

Post #2 of 3 (1349 views)

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Re: [Guera] Beating a Dead Horse

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I had a good one on the Day of the Dead. I was traveling from Manzanillo on the cuota. There is a section of two-lane cuota and it has various speed limits along it. I was on a 90 KPH area doing about 135. A federal/state cop pulled me over.

This guy was pretty slick. He asked to see my license and my papers for my permit. I mentioned that he was not customs and that the permit was really none of his business. He said that he agreed and that he just wanted to show me something. I found the paperwork and on the back where I signed it there is a little Spanish paragraph. In that paragraph it states that you are agreeing to abide by the laws of Mexico. He said since I was speeding (verified by the radar gun he showed me) he could get my truck confiscated because I broke the agreement. I also would have to spend the day in Guzman as the banks were closed and I could not pay my fine and go on. I thought this was a pretty good approach he was using.

This guy was really nice and did speak some English. I knew from the git go that he wanted some money and that really was all he wanted. He even gave me back my license before he got out his ticket, which verified it. I wondered whom he was going to write the ticket to. I casually asked him if he could pay the ticket for me when the banks are open if I gave him the money. He said no as I needed my receipt. I said sent it to me and eventually he said OK. He "paid" the ticket for me and I went on my way.

My Mexican girlfriend was with me and witnessed the whole conversation. He tried to use a lot of English so she would not understand the conversation as he asked her if she spoke English and she said no (he did not know that she understands almost all she hears). He sent her into the truck when it was time to pass the money.

Afterwards she said she was embarrassed to be a Mexican with that sort of police. I just said it is OK and it is one of the things lots of people put up with, both Mexicans and gringos. No problem.

shoe

Nothing is intrinsically good or evil, but its manner of usage may make it so.
-St. Thomas Aquinas

Papirex

Nov 20, 2005, 10:25 AM

Post #3 of 3 (1325 views)

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Re: [shoe] Beating a Dead Horse

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Sometimes the cops will surprise you here by decent behavior. A couple of times when my wife was driving on a prohibited day in Mexico City, a cop pulled up beside her and called over to her, Señora, you are driving on the wrong day, you better take your car home before somebody gives you a ticket.” We have two cars, one can’t be driven on Tuesday, the other on Thursday, she forgot the day for one she was driving each time.

Last Friday, the 18th of this month was my suegra’s birthday. We decided to take her out to dinner at a nice upscale restaurant. We stopped at the newly opened Wal-Mart here in Cuernavaca to get some money from an ATM there that has a slot so you don’t risk having the machine swallow your card.

The new Wal-Mart is located on a divided four-lane avenue. They had just cut an opening through the dividing safety island so cars can pass through, to make a left turn into Wal-Mart. There is a double traffic light hanging on a goofy angle above the new opening, which appears to be a retorno. As we left Wal-Mart, we wanted to turn left, so when we got the green light we made the turn.

There was a cop standing there to direct traffic so people will get used to the new traffic pattern. My wife was driving, and waved to him. He waved back. As we were going up the street, my wife looked in the rear view mirror and said, “Oh, oh, the policeman is waving for me to came back there.” I gave her a bit of my vast legal knowledge and told her to keep going, maybe he won’t follow us.

A couple of minutes later, she checked the rear view again, and said that he got in his car and was following us. There was heavy traffic so it took him a while to get behind us. He then used his loudspeaker to tell us to stop.

When he walked up to the car on the driver’s side, I thought here we go, another crooked cop. He was surprisingly polite. He told my wife that left turns out of the new store were prohibited. When Doris told him that the traffic light seemed to indicate that we could turn, since there were two lights, one of which was turned toward the store driveway, and that there was no sign prohibiting left turns, she thought it was OK to make a left turn.

He agreed that it was very confusing, and advised her that the next time she left that store that she had to make a right turn, and go down to the next retorno to go in the direction that we were going now. He wished us all a good night and blessings, and left.

It’s always a happy surprise when a cop acts like a cop is supposed to here.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo