| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
zach4
Newbie
Posts: 20
Registered: 1-20-2014
Member Is Offline
|
|
being pulled over & speed limit
So,
I understand that sometimes you can be pulled over by policemen and that they usually want some money.
How often does this happen? are there places that it is more likely to happen?
What is best to do in these cases?
(* we don't really speak Spanish..)
And - what is the speed limit within a city or on the highway? (I mean the maximal, and I know that often you drive much slower than that, I just want
to know the limit).
thanks..
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
Speed limits vary from place to place. Just try to establish what it is and drive accordingly.
Just use common sense. If you try to second guess the whole thing, you'll be distracted from the real reason for being here....to enjoy a good trip.
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
|
|
|
Alan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1628
Registered: 4-6-2005
Location: Yucaipa, CA/La Paz
Member Is Offline
|
|
Speed limits are usually well posted along your route. It has been my experience is that "usually" they want you to slow down and drive at a safe
speed".... "ocassionally" a policeman will pull you over in hopes of mordita.
If it happened "usually" it wouldn't be a topic that gets posted as it wouldn't constitute "news". Obey the law as you would in the US and you are
not likely to have any issues. In 40 years of driving the peninsula I have only had two bogus stops. In every justified stop I received a warning
and sent on my way.
In Memory of E-57
|
|
|
Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
|
|
My rule of thumb for speed limits in a city is to follow someone on the right lane with a Mexican plate.
If there is a cop behind you without a red light on you, signal a right lane change and move over. If the cop pulls over with you means he plans on
following you for a while. Keep cool. Count to three at stop signs, and ALWAYS let pedestrians get all the way to the other curb before you proceed.
Again, stay behind a local driver. The drivers on the right lane, generally drive much slower than those in the left lane.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
|
|
|
bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
|
|
Get a cheap dash cam......in addition to recording your trip, it provides proof of stopping at stop signs and will also show other cars driving faster
than you.
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
Get a cheap dash cam......in addition to recording your trip, it provides proof of stopping at stop signs and will also show other cars driving faster
than you. |
Here's a good one:
http://shop.komando.com/the-komando-dual-lens-dash-cam
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
|
|
|
Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
|
|
That's a really good and inexpensive idea, Dennis!
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
|
|
|
zach4
Newbie
Posts: 20
Registered: 1-20-2014
Member Is Offline
|
|
thanks guys...
are the speed limit signs in kilometers?
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by zach4
thanks guys...
are the speed limit signs in kilometers? |
Always.
Just multiply the posted number by six. That will give you the approximate mph speed.
50 KPH x 6 = 30 mph.
.
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by DENNIS]
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
|
|
|
Russ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6742
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Punta Chivato
Member Is Offline
|
|
Posted highway 1 speed limits are ridiculously slow. Big rigs will blow you off the road. Just drive at a safe speed for you and you should be okay.
If stopped be courteous and you be able to get by with a warning. If it is an obvious stop for mordida ask politely for his name and badge number and
where you can go to pay the fine.
Bahia Concepcion where life starts...given a chance!
|
|
|
apple
Nomad
Posts: 284
Registered: 11-4-2013
Location: SD
Member Is Offline
|
|
The speed limits on Highway 1 are often pretty low, usually around 90kph and then dropping to 30 or 60 when you get into a town.
Slow down when you approach a town and watch out for speed bumps.
On the highway, I don't worry too much about the speed limits and neither do the locals. On the straight stretches I usually cruise around 120 if
conditions allow and I'll still get passed by Mexican cars.
I've only seen one cop with a radar speed trap set up and he was in the median in the middle of the road and could spotted a mile in advance.
One other piece of advice, if you're behind a large truck and trying to pass and they put on their left blinker it usually means you are be safe to
pass.
In La Paz counting to 3 at a stop sign will annoy the cars behind you and maybe even get you rear ended...
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by apple]
|
|
|
RanchGX
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: 10-17-2013
Location: TX, AZ, Baja
Member Is Offline
|
|
If you go through Tecate make sure you come to a complete stop! And dont ever speed in that place. Everywhere else is pretty easy going and common
sense.... just apply extra common sense when in Tecate..... and make sure to grab a free cerveza at the brewery!!!
|
|
|
sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
Member Is Offline
|
|
Some posted limits are absurdly low, have seen
a 80km/50mph or less, out on open Hwy, probably not
strictly enforced, but it does give a Cop leverage
for mordida
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by sancho]
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by sancho]
|
|
|
J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
Mood: Easy Does It
|
|
Speed Limit
Just look at your Speedometer its marked in M.P.H. and K.P.H. if your car was built in this Century. 
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by J.P.]
|
|
|
Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
|
|
That's why I got rear-ended by a bus there last September.
| Quote: | Originally posted by apple
In La Paz counting to 3 at a stop sign will annoy the cars behind you and maybe even get you rear ended...
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by apple] |
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
|
|
|
J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
Mood: Easy Does It
|
|
I got rear ended on Reforma in Ensenada by stopping at a Red Light. My gas tank was up on the hood of the car that hit me. Ever since I look behind
before I stop.
I have since learned Yellow light doesnt mean prepare to Stop it means Speed Up and get across before the light changes.
[Edited on 2-18-2014 by J.P.]
|
|
|
Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
|
|
Drive the posted limit... if you can stand to go that slow at times.
Be aware that there WAS a radar trap just south of GN a couple of miles. He collected lots of mordida over the years.
BUT...haven't seen him in a couple years now. I believe he retired to his villa in Acapulco.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
|
|
|
dasubergeek
Senior Nomad
Posts: 694
Registered: 8-17-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
In north Baja (the "Riviera", north of, say, San Quintín) it will rarely be a problem.
EXCEPT Tecate. They are unbelievably strict there and I can count on being followed by a police officer at least once per trip through that city. Make
sure you stop so that he can see the "bounceback" (but not too hard), wait for a moment, then pull through the intersection. The speed limit in town
is generally either 40 km/h or 60 km/h. Be careful of the downhill as you leave town headed south, there's often a car sitting there clocking speed.
The only other rule you need to know is how to make a left turn on rural roads. The law in Mexico says that left turns happen from the right shoulder.
You signal RIGHT, pull to the shoulder, then wait for traffic to clear and turn across the entire roadbed. A left blinker, as apple said above, means
"it is safe to pass me". In town, of course, left turns happen normally.
|
|
|
chavycha
Nomad
Posts: 373
Registered: 1-20-2014
Member Is Offline
|
|
Some of the speed limits are laughable, for example the Tortugas/Asuncion road which was redone recently is posted at 40kph (25mph) for long
stretches.
There are other places which are the opposite - the grade going down into Santa Rosalia, for one, where you'd have to be suicidal to do anything near
the 80kph (50mph) posted.
Be smart and safe, and you'll do fine.
|
|
|
gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Perhaps nomads need to be reminded that when you get pulled over for speeding, practice mind kung fu, don't respond directly to the threats of mordida
or jail or impounding the vehicle-that's bs, instead deflect, try to slow down the situation in time warp slow motion and be relaxed, move incredibly
slowly and talk really slow, be patient like you have forever, be humorous, enjoy the interaction, ask their name and ask to see their formal id since
they are required by law to identify themselves and you will find the situation change quickly. Most cops are just trying to see if they can get a n
angry reaction from an excitable gringo then they exploit it, so best never to react, never even if they have guns and masks, they lose patience, get
bored and leave pretty quickly. They are hoping for 10 pesos, 20 pesos or anything but don't pay them on the spot because that's wrong. I often pepper
my chat the subject of recipes, frijol, arroz, pavo, cebolla and peppers, then they leave-probably getting hungry.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
