Dangers And Annoyances

Views

From Drive the Americas

Contents 1 General Tips 1.1 Vehicle 1.2 Money 1.3 Hotels 2 Scams 2.1 Getting pulled over by the police 2.2 The Flat Tire Bad Samaritan 2.3 The Cleaner 2.4 Colombian Brake Job 2.5 Border Fee Fakeout 3 Specific Location Police Information 3.1 Tourist police in Acapulco, Mexico 3.2 Police in Nicaragua and Honduras 3.3 Police in Peru

[edit] General Tips

[edit] Vehicle

• Make sure to keep all valuables in your car locked up and out of sight. Even a pair of sunglasses or a sweatshirt left on the front seat can be enough to get a window smashed, depending on the location.
• Avoid driving at night if at all possible.
• Ask locals as you are driving through any areas if there have been any problems recently on your planned route.
• When driving through cities, roll up your windows and lock your car doors.
• If you get a flat tire, try to pull over somewhere populated, like a gas station or shopping area. Carrying a canned tire inflator (fix-a-flat) is a great thing to carry to quickly fix a tire in a unsafe location.
• If a younger kid asks you for money to 'watch' your parked car, usually a dollar is sufficient and worth the money.
• Look for hotels with secure parking lots, or hotels that provide a 24 hour security guard (vigilante) who can watch your car.
• Always carry photocopies of your important documents, and if someone asks to see your documents, try showing them the photocopy first.
• When interacting with crooked police, it might be beneficial to pretend you don't speak Spanish, and if you speak another language besides English, speak that first.
• Lock your car doors, even if you step out to talk to a person 10 feet away.
• If you are driving w/others, declare out loud that you locked the car, and have the other person acknowledge that they heard you. This can save you from forgetting to lock the car, or wondering after walking away whether the car is locked.

[edit] Money

• When walking around, it is good to have a few small bills to hand over if you have the unfortunate luck to be threatened. Hide the rest of your money in a money belt under your clothes. Many thieves do know about waist money belts so if you're feeling like you're in a dodgy area and wanted to be super tricky you could wear the standard money belt with only a small amount of cash in it and wear one of these real belts with flat zippers sewn in the back. You can also find leg money belts too.

[edit] Hotels

Paying for low cost hotels are often a casual affair with no receipts. You may stay in different hotels for months without a problem, but there is a slim chance where you hand over your payment for the room and the next morning it is forgotten. It may be paranoid to create your own receipt log and have the person you pay sign it, but it may help you from getting overcharged or charged twice.

If your hotel, room, or apartment is not very secure, you could have a break-in. Break-ins are common in Guatemala- make sure to hide and if possible lock up valuables in your room. Hide money and valuables in different places to minimize loosing everything.

[edit] Scams

Anything out of the ordinary may be a scam, be suspicious when things like that happen. Why would a person care if your car needs repair or that you have dirt on your arm? Here is a small list of scams to watch for. You may want to agree early on the trip of a keyword you can yell out to your fellow travelers if you see something strange going on while pointing at the person causing the scam or distraction.

[edit] Getting pulled over by the police

If you travel for any length of time in Latin America, chances are the police will attempt to extract a bribe. Police are often underpaid and find tourists an easy source of income, so any foreign vehicles or people on the road will often be targeted.

In order to learn how to avoid a bribe, here is a typical scenario:

Driving through Honduras on a main highway, we saw a few orange cones in the road and two policemen. They pointed at our car and motioned for us to stop, so we pulled over and rolled down the window. Speaking in Spanish, the officer asked us for our driver's license, and we handed it over. He then asked us if we had a safety triangle or fire extinguisher in the car, and we told him we did not. He explained that in Honduras you must have both of these items in your vehicle at all times, that he would have to write us a ticket for $150 USD, and he would confiscate our license until we paid the fine. He said we could pay the fine in a nearby town and get our license back anytime after 5 pm tomorrow. After explaining to him that we were on our way to another town 400 kilometers further south, he pointed out that he would be able to take $50 USD on the spot and save us the hassle of staying in the area another day to pay the fine.

This situation can be broken down into three main parts. First is the alleged “violation”. A common violation in Central America countries is the “safety triangle law”. You will be asked if you have a safety triangle and/or fire extinguisher in the vehicle. According to a local Honduran, there may or may not be a law like this on the books. (note: In Colombia you are required to have a triangle/cone and fire extinguisher.) Either way, it is only used by police to extract bribes from tourists. Other “violations” commonly encountered include: running a red light or stop sign, passing in a no passing zone, and speeding. Be aware that any moving violations of which you are accused may be half truths or completely fabricated. For instance, you may be pulled over for passing in a no passing zone, but know you were the third person in a row to pass a horse pulling a cart full of chickens down a major freeway.

Now that the officer has explained your “violation”, the second part of this bribe will be the explanation of the dire consequences of your alleged actions. This will involve a large fine, along with confiscation of any documents you have handed over. The officer will explain that payment of the fine and the retrieval of your documents can only be done at an inconvenient police station location (like a city you passed through two hours ago or one three hours out of your way), and at an inconvenient time, such as the afternoon of the next day. If you ask for specific directions to the location where you can pick up your documents, you won't get a straight answer.

So far, the police officer has seemingly done his job - he pointed out your violation (or violations), and told you of what is going to happen next. Unless he has completely made up the violation, you may be in doubt at this point whether you are in a bribe situation. The third part of this situations will remove any doubts. This is where the police office expects you to show your dismay at the high price of the fine or the inconvenience of waiting around to pay the fine. Hard to not be either upset or bummed out at this point in the process. This is the moment where the more practiced officer will feign sympathy for your current situation and spend a few moments pondering a way to help you out of your current predicament. He will then think of an easy solution to your problems - by handing over a smaller amount of cash to him directly, all will be forgiven and you can proceed merrily on your way.

Now you can be sure that this is a bribe situation. This officer is not trying to uphold the law or protect any citizens. He has put you in a tough position, and given you an easy way out. The easiest way out at this point is for you to hand over the cash, or at least bargain him down further. Don't forget that all prices are negotiable in Latin America. If you act indecisive enough, the office may help you out by dropping the price.

Now that we went through the case study and understand the process, we can now consider ways to circumvent the process.

Don't hand over original documents. If you get stopped by a police officer, only hand over photocopies of your documents. This may seem unusual, but if the police officer is expecting a bribe, the only way he can get it from you is if you have something to loose. If you don't hand him any important documents, there is nothing he can do. I would expect that if you did this in Canada or the United States, you may find yourself stuffed and cuffed quickly. However, if an officer is looking for a bribe, he is not going to bring you to the police station, as he has less of a chance getting a bribe from you there. In fact, many tourist police in Mexico will have “tourists pay no fines” written on the police cars in Spanish. In Guatemala, documents are considered personal properly, and it is illegal for an officer to take them. If an officer insists on seeing your original documents, insist that you will follow him to the local police station and present them there. An exception to this rule is police officers at border crossings and the Mexican military checkpoints. The military checkpoints in Mexico may be look more intimidating than a lone police officer but are very professional and courteous.

Play along. If you happily agree that you would love to drive 30 miles out of your way and stay in the middle of nowhere for an extra night so you can pay the fine, this will likely confuse the police officer. Accustomed to anger and arguments at this point in the bribe scenario, they will be thrown off guard with your willingness to comply with their ridiculous demands. After repeating that you understand, the police officer will often realize you have called his bluff, hand you back the documents, and let you continue on your way without paying any bribes.

Stay firm and stand your ground. If you do hand over originals and don't feel like playing along, often firmly demanding that you receive your license and stating point-blank that you will pay no bribes can work as well. There may be more heat involved in this discussion, but asking for the officer's badge number and name can cause them to relent and you can qualify your request by saying that you need to report the details of any incidents involving the police to your embassy.

This is often the least effective method, and may result in disaster if the officer decides to call YOUR bluff, and tows your vehicle. Shouting at officers when angry at their corrupt behaviour has this effect, as reported by ihana.com. Remember, they DO have all the power, and if they take a strong dislike to you or just want to teach you a lesson for being an arrogant gringo, they can and will make up a violation and punish you for it. If your vehicle is impounded in the most corrupt latin american countries, don't expect to find anything of value left inside when you retrieve it from the impound (including the stereo and tires).

Don't speak any Spanish. Even if you do speak Spanish, pretending that you don't understand anything the police officer is staying can sometimes work. If the officer starts to believe that you are taking more time than you are worth, and that you genuinely don't understand what is happening, he may let you go. Many police officers will speak some rudimentary English though, so if you speak another language besides English or Spanish, replying in that language may also through him off.

Bullshit back. This has the potential to backfire badly, but can also take the steam out of some cops' strongest bullshit. When they tell you that your vehicle is illegal on the roads of XXX country because of XXX feature, tell them that you contacted the ministry of tourism and the police headquarters by email, forwarding photos etc. before entering the country, and that you were assured by every possible ranking official that every single feature of your car is acceptable for tourist travel in their country. They may not believe you, but they know they can't prove it's not true, and finding out for sure would mean contacting someone way above their heads over a minor issue when it's obvious they're doing something illegal - they're not going to do it. If you get a dismissive response to this, insist that they contact the people you've mentioned for confirmation of your claims - they won't do it, and unless they do they have to accept what you say.

Multi-pronged attack. Best results are often achieved when combining all of the above techniques at appropriate times in the discussion... doing this can take some practice. You can start off with "don't speak spanish" by having a very difficult understanding them (even if you understand perfectly) to draw things out and make them get bored and wonder if it's worth it. Once they know they've made it clear that they want you to pay a fine, continue with a mild "stand your ground" by politely but firmly calling them on any made-up laws that you know for a fact are false and presenting any safety equipment asked for. If the officer hasn't given up after 20 minutes of hand signals, painfully communicated lies, and false starts, they may well finally give up when you use the "play along technique" and tell them that you haven't got any cash but cheerfully offer to pay the fine with credit card or cheque.

[edit] The Flat Tire Bad Samaritan

This scam is a classic in Costa Rica. The scammers place a nail or piece of broken glass under your tire when you are parked somewhere, like outside a store. When you pull away, the tire is punctured and slowly leaks air, causing you to pull over to fix your flat. When you get out to fix the tire, you will be approached by the "Bad Samaritan" who will offer to help you fix your tire while his friends rob you. Look around before getting out of your car if you get a flat, watch your gear closely, and don't allow anyone to help you.

[edit] The Cleaner

When you are walking down the street, a well dressed person will come up and help wipe off a smudge of dirt off your arm. What is actually happening is that they are wiping dirt on your arm, distracting you while the accomplice pickpockets you. Be wary of anyone touching you, there may be desensitizing you so you can be pick pocketed. Other variations are people helping you wipe off bird excrement, mustard, or lotion. One person reported that the helpers were innocent old ladies.

[edit] Colombian Brake Job

Helpful persons on the side of the road point out that one of your car wheels are leaking oil, and offer to replace the brake shoe and bushing. In fact, they spray oil on the wheel beforehand.

[edit] Border Fee Fakeout

Not only do you often need to deal with border officials who themselves are corrupt, there are people lurking at borders to take advantage of unwary travelers. In general do not give anyone money or your documents unless they are wearing a uniform or are displaying some sort of badge. If someone comes up to you with a sheaf of printed forms or tickets and tells you that you need to pay for something fishy like a 'parking fee' or a 'transit fee,' make sure they're legit. Ask a uniformed officer if you need to pay the fee before doing so.

[edit] Specific Location Police Information

[edit] Tourist police in Acapulco, Mexico

While the tourist police in Acapulco have 'tourists pay no fines' written on their rear windshields, that doesn't stop them from trying to extract a bribe. Typically, they pull up alongside or in front of your car, and indicate that you should pull over. They then state that you have run a red light (or two or three) and ask for your license. Do not give them any original documents, or give them a document that you are willing to part with. If they insist on seeing originals, state that you will drive with them to the police station and exchange originals there. They will likely argue with you about this, but stand your ground and be firm. They may pull out a pad of papers showing amounts for fines, pretend to start writing a ticket, or call their 'supervisor' in the hopes that you will relent. They also may threaten to impound your car or have you arrested, at which point ask for their name and badge number. Usually if you stand your ground, they will eventually back off.

[edit] Police in Nicaragua and Honduras

Both in Honduras and Nicaragua, a favorite scam seems to be the 'fire extinguisher and orange-safety triangle' trick. While it is likely a good idea to carry both of these in your car in case of an emergency, it is unclear if there is actually a law stating that you are legally required to carry these items in your car. Variations on this scheme include pulling you over for passing in a no-passing zone (a ridiculous statement, since people spend more time passing than driving on the right side of the road down here) or speeding (also ridiculous, since speed limits, while posted, are never obeyed and often the posted limit is ridiculously slow). The police will ask for your license, vehicle import permit, and proof of insurance. While you can try to hand over photocopies, they will likely insist on the originals. You can try to argue this point here, but we have successfully retrieved our original documents every time (so far). They hold on to your license, state that somehow you have broken the law, and that you will have to pay a fine. The police officer will keep your license, and state that the only way to retrieve your license will be to drive to some remote location the next day in order to pay the fine. However, to avoid that inconvenience, you can pay him on the spot and continue on your way. Stating that you can pay the fine next day and retrieve your license will usually confuse the officer, and he will ask you if you understand what he is saying. State that you do, and that you would be happy to drive out of your way the next day to pay the fine and retrieve your license. He may then pull out a pad of paper as if to write a ticket, or hand your license to another officer. If you keep your cool and smile, they will hand over your license (sometimes with a smile) and let you continue on your way.

[edit] Police in Peru

There are quite a few police stops along the Pan-American Highway in Peru. If the police wave at you to pull over, they will likely ask to see your travel documents, such as your drivers license, car import permit, and proof of insurance. There seem to be two tactics used by the police during the interaction. First, if you don't have a front license plate, they may try to tell you some story about how everyone in Peru needs a front license plate. Second, they may also try to tell you that you need SOAT, insurance sold in Peru.

As for the license plate, we had heard about this scam before we entered Peru, so took defensive action. We took a good, high quality photograph of our license plate and had a 'bumper sticker' of the license printed out at a print shop. We stuck it on our front bumper, and we successfully argued with the police that we had indeed followed the law.

As for SOAT, it seems unclear if SOAT is needed for out-of-country cars. We have insurance and it covers everything SOAT would cover in Peru (and much more). We stopped by a SOAT office in Peru, and they claimed we should buy SOAT, but the price is determined by the Peruvian license plate, so we think they were just trying to get money out of us. So, we printed out a very nice looking copy of our insurance and have so far not had to argue too much that we don't need SOAT when the police have asked for it.

Want to add information or your experiences to this site? Join our community! If you would rather not edit this page yourself, please look at other ways to contribute information to this website.