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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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La ley es para toda la gente
Today on the road between my house and San Jose del Cabo, we got pulled over by a local policeman. He told us that we didnt have on our
cinturones(sp?) then he said zippers. Anyway, no we didnt have on our seat belts. He asked for our papers which were totally in order. Then he
asked my husband to get out of the car. When Jim got to the back of the truck the guy said that he was going to have to write us a ticket for no seat
belts. All of a sudden I hear Jim saying....NO! NO! When I looked back he was pointing to every car that passed and only 2 people had on seat
belts....saying....no tiene, no tiene.
Finally he said "La ley es para toda la gente" and the guy walked away and left.
I am sorry to say that I fully believe that he pulled us because we are gringos and he thought we would be an easy 200pesos. Well, he thought wrong.
As I told Jim, if he had given us a ticket we would have gone to the station to pay it. That guy was not getting one centavo from me.
Happy ending to an old story....mordida
[Edited on 4-17-2007 by bajajudy]
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DENNIS
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Location: Punta Banda
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I honestly wonder if there are any police officers, working in public, who arn't predatory in this manner. I know we all have had fortunate
moments with the police as well as not so fortunate occasions with others but, do they all look for the soft target from time to time?
It's hard to imagine that they don't.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
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Dennis, you are right. It is only human nature to try for the easiest way, isnt it. And, of course, I could be totally off the mark but when they
let us go after Jim pointed out all the people passing us without seatbelts, it re-enforced what I thought from the start....easy 200 pesos. Jim
speaking Spanish probably helped shoo them away too. That is actually the second time we have gotten pulled over and talked our way out of it. The
first time the guy left shaking his head. We knew we were in the throes of a scam, when he stuck his head in the window and told us his name was
John....
I do know that it is against the law in BCS to drive without a seat belt, it was just the arbitrary enforcement that got us upset.
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
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Registered: 10-14-2006
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Bajajudy.......That was very quick thinking on Jims part. Glad you didn't pay....It always irks me so much when I have to pay. You just know they
single you out.!!!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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Location: Punta Banda
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Judy .......
More selective than arbitrary, I'm sure. Good self defense, beating them with bad Spanish if that's what you meant. They may be cops but, they're
still Mexican which makes them more gracious than many others and they do appreciate the language effort. I've had them hanging onto their car door
with laughter at my Spanish but I just keep making up words and talking. Seems to work sometimes.
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bancoduo
Banned
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Location: el carcel publico mazatlan sin.
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Ever see eight Mexicans in a old car weaving down the road at 15mph on a sunday afternoon. "No problema"
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DENNIS
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"No problema" because they're all wearing their seat belts.
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Minnow
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Yesterday morning at 5 am we were pulled over in Ensenada as we made the turn off Mex 1 in front of the Gigante. I was towing a boat and had two
motorcycles in the back of my truck. The equivalent of a large gringo bullseye in the form of a dollar sign, and as I rounded the corner I see a
police car waiting at the side entrance to the Gigante parking lot. I told my wife, we are going to get pulled over. The cop pulls in behind us and
turns on his lights. I drive an extra block or so before pulling over, and he hits his siren. We are both chuckling at this point. The cop, or cops
don't know what they are in for. The one cop comes up to my wifes window and tells up that our trailer lights were not working. He allows me to go
back and check it out the lights were on, Hmmmmm. This is when the fun begins. He has my license and paper work by this point, saying we will have to
go to the station for the infraction. All I am saying is OK< OK< OK. While my wife explains the law to them about taking a foreigners drivers
license. I start to pull out my spare set of magnetic lights, the cop must have been able to tell I had been though this before. I hook them up,
then I pull out a completely new set of trailer lights and begin to operate on the lights that they said were not working, but clearly everyone could
see they were on, as I had left the truck running and the lights on. Then, in a moment of disgust the cop just hands back all of our documents and
leaves. Desayuno was not going to be on us.
Proud husband of a legal immigrant.
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thebajarunner
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Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Minnow, that is a very cool story...
so, clue us in on the "law about taking a foreigners drivers license"
I have not heard that one.
thanks
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Minnow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
Minnow, that is a very cool story...
so, clue us in on the "law about taking a foreigners drivers license"
I have not heard that one.
thanks |
It is illegal. They do it anyway, because that is what they do to the locals, but most know that is is illegal.
Proud husband of a legal immigrant.
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bancoduo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Minnow
| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
Minnow, that is a very cool story...
so, clue us in on the "law about taking a foreigners drivers license"
I have not heard that one.
thanks |
It is illegal. They do it anyway, because that is what they do to the locals, but most know that is is illegal. |
Great! One more unsubstanciated fact.
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
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Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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actually the police in tj are setting up safety roadblocks checking seatbelts...
at least a couple of months ago
you SHOULD have gotten a ticket
at the roadblocks in tj mostly locals get pulled over...
they don't target gringos
ensenada...your lights were OUT
TICKET....your fault!!!
i've got them and EVERY TIME i did something stupid
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shari
Select Nomad
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Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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So uh, there is a seatbelt law in Mexico...so you were guilty.. whether others are also guildty or not is not the issue here...listen everyone, I
don't know why everyone b-tches about getting busted when they are guilty...oh gee a cop singled me out and busted me for an illegal U
turn...waaaaagh...if ya don't want to get a ticket...just do everything right...know the law...the thing is even mexicans get pulled over for stuff
but they don't whine about it because they know they are guilty and accept the risk of the ticket. I agree the law is for everyone and I DO understand
gringos get singled out which is why gringos should be EXTRA cautious to have everything in order and legal...great tip about the illegality of taking
your drivers license. Most often is it is a minor infraction and you DO speak good spanish you can get out of it...not possible in the states...but I
do get tired of hearing complaints about mordidas by guilty parties.
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David K
Honored Nomad
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10-4 on what Shari said...
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vandenberg
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So Judy,
off to the station and pay up
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Minnow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
ensenada...your lights were OUT
TICKET....your fault!!!
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Bob, my lights were not out. Read my post again. No wonder you get tickets. I
did not get a ticket or pay anything. Then again my wife is Mexican, speaks spanish, and we have a house near ensenada. Probably not what the Cop
expected when he pulled us over.
Proud husband of a legal immigrant.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Shari
I said that I was quilty...
The problem is with mordida. He only mentioned writing a ticket. He really just wanted money.
Guilty or not I WILL NOT pay mordida....period.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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...know the law...
In Mexico? That's a good one. Even the lawers don't know the law.
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
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Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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sorry tom
it looks like ten lines of letters
i am handicapped...i need glasses now days
the question is...
why (in the h--l) would you pull out spare set of magnetic lights if the lights were working perfectly???
i'll bet there was a short....
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DENNIS
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I like how Tom handeled it. He showed control rather than fear. He showed them that, since they don't like the working lights he has, he will
change them to another set of working lights. Luz infinitum.
Tom won the game.
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