Herb
Nomad
Posts: 202
Registered: 11-6-2003
Location: Torrance, CA
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Tickets by mail...
I was pulled over in TJ near the border this weekend. The officer came up alongside the car and asked me if I knew how fast I was going. Hadn't looked
at the speedometer since Playas so I smiled and said sheepishly, "Um, I was going with the other cars." He replied that there was one other car and I
was going 80kph in a 40kph zone. (I new I was doing at least that)
He then told me that he would have to take my license and registration and I would have to follow him to the station. So, as I hand him the documents
and he's writing away he says, "Will you be taking care of this with cash or what?"
I say, "Hmm, that depends on how much the fine is likely to be."
He says, "460 pesos." I look up a little like I'm doing the math in my head and thinking. I never actually answer the question. Finally he finishes
writing and offers ever so kindly to take it down to the station for me.
I smile again and say that I really don't mind going myself. "The border wait will be long anyway, so I have time."
He says, "Momentito" and goes over to talk to the other motorcycle cop who has pulled up behind me. He comes back and explains that his super says
that they can just send me the ticket in the mail at home and that I am free to go as he hands me my documents back.
Normally I would assume that it was just my lucky day, and they didn't want the hassle of having to do the "right thing." But I had a cop in Ensenada
tell me the same thing about mailing tickets so as to eliminate the appearance of corruption to tourists when he pulled me over a couple of years ago.
I figured he was legit because he never even fished for a "bite." I never got to find out for sure then because he got called away for a real
emergency and handed me back my license and told me that I was saved.
So what do you all think? Were they full of it, or will I receive an envelope in a few weeks that will wipe the smug smirk off my face that I had as I
drove off?
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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can't believe they would let the gringo rely on his "honor" to send money in an envelope to another country to pay a fine. seems like a logistical
nightmare to enforce.
maybe your "request" to go to the station was the key.
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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I think I'm
switching to mushrooms and fungus for breakfast!!
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 4969
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Did you sign anything?
--
Doug
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting:
https://www.regionalinternet.com |
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Herb
Nomad
Posts: 202
Registered: 11-6-2003
Location: Torrance, CA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaNomad
Did you sign anything?
--
Doug |
Nope!
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
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Mood: Just dancing through life
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Herb
The Baja Brujas were looking over your shoulder and the cops saw them.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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Mushrooms n Fungus !
[Edited on 11/23/2004 by jrbaja]
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Don Jorge
Senior Nomad
Posts: 638
Registered: 8-29-2003
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I take the 5th
Herb,
A similiar incident in the same place happened to me about 3 years ago. My infraction was making a lane change without using a turn signal indicator.
I signed the ticket.
A week or so later a bill arrived with payment instructions for the infraction along with a copy of the original ticket. It contained a self
addressed, non-stamped envelope with a San Ysidro address.
I was very impressed with the honesty of the moto cops who were not interested in a civil service fee and equally impressed by the fact a bill arrived
as advertised and it actually seemed legit.
I posted your same question on the old amigos board and was told by those who used to post it was a new and legitimate system designed to ease the
pain for tourists whom are guilty of simple traffic violations.
I do believe you will be receiving a bill soon.
Now, the rest of the decisions are up to you. That is where the fun begins. A few questions concerning the database popped into my mind as I was
plotting my course.
To send $ or not to send $, that is the question.
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Herb
Nomad
Posts: 202
Registered: 11-6-2003
Location: Torrance, CA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jrbaja
Mushrooms n Fungus !
[Edited on 11/23/2004 by jrbaja] |
Maybe it was my breath after that breakfast.
Don Jorge - I see you have eggs (and I don't mean breakfast there) Interesting thought, hmm... 
And Bernie may be right about the Brujas. I have been pulled over 3 times in the last 2 years in Baja and have never had to pay a fine.
In addition to the ones I've mentioned above, I was flying down the 1 between Mulege and Loreto this summer and approached one of those washed out
vados at a pretty good clip (only I missed the warning sign if there was one). The only thing that slowed me down was the Federal Caminos squad car
sitting along the road in the wash (probably saved my suspension from major damage). He waved me to the side and told me that I was going way too fast
and I was being dangerous. I agreed and thanked him for watching out for motorist safety there. He also looked at my license for a while and asked me
if I wanted to pay my fine in La Paz or GN/San Quintin (I can't rember which one for sure). I told him either one was OK with me. "We were only going
as far as Loreto, but La Paz is a nice place too!" He saw the family and the camping gear and asked if we were on vacation. I replied that we were. He
then reminded me that "rapido, rapido" is no way to spend a vacation and that I should slow down and enjoy my family and the scenery. I agreed, he
handed me back my license and told me to enjoy my trip.
Come to think of it, maybe it is the family. (Well, sometimes they can be brujas) All three times, I've had my wife and daughter in the car and they
looked pretty frightened.
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