DUI Roadblocks

I saw the post you're talking about. She said that stopping people without cause (no weaving or driving erratically) is not done anywhere. Glad somebody set her straight on that one because I know it happens in the States and sure happened on St. Thomas, though not often enough. I never saw so many people who only have 1 drink at a dinner and night off. I also wondered what I was missing.

Where's this dingbat from? It's done EVERYWHERE there is civilization as far as I know. That's why it's called a "Checkpoint". And that's why I was always the Designated Driver... and the other word for a Designated Driver is Taxi!

Viejito mordida is not always accepted and that is a fact..

brigitte wrote:Viejito mordida is not always accepted and that is a fact..

Thanks for that but it's small v, por favor.

viejito wrote:

brigitte wrote:Viejito mordida is not always accepted and that is a fact..

Thanks for that but it's small v, por favor.

Not when it's the first letter in a sentence.

slainte39 wrote:

ferret wrote: In Canada, it's Saturday night. Sunday is for sobering up for work on Monday... unless there's hockey on... or it's a long weekend.

Yep, different countries, in Mexico, when I was young, sobering up for work was called "San Lunes".  

Los lunes ni las gallinas ponen.

Clete wrote:

slainte39 wrote:

ferret wrote: In Canada, it's Saturday night. Sunday is for sobering up for work on Monday... unless there's hockey on... or it's a long weekend.

Yep, different countries, in Mexico, when I was young, sobering up for work was called "San Lunes".  

Los lunes ni las gallinas ponen.

Ni los gallos viejos, hoy en dia.
Pero mas vale tarde que nunca.

You do not offer an amount when you offer mordida to start with, you ask how you can fix the problem and they will let you know how much they want...I cannot imagine saying how much do you want.. how crass..not to mention illegal..

I'm glad the transitos made such a big scene, netted a lot of people who blew over the legal limit, refused crass attempts at mordida, and hauled their sorry butts in for a little taste of reality. A big splash that will ripple down and spread the word.

Good job. . . in spite of the whiny, indignant, entitled gringa's comments on FB!

you have to admit it is all pretty funny..

Having spent a night or two in the "crowbar hotel" up north in my drunken youth I can assure her the conditions are no better. Maybe a nicer paint job but not much else........

brigitte wrote:You do not offer an amount when you offer mordida to start with, you ask how  you can fix the problem and they will let you know how much they want...I cannot imagine saying how much do you want.. how crass..not to mention illegal..

Couldn't agree more!

Once you've been shaken down for about the 10th time you get a feel for the rate schedule. Start there and go up as needed.

I can tell that you have a lot of experience... so how much do you think you would offer to let you out of jail .. I just went through that not long ago so I would love to hear your the answer on that one.. so please enlighten the people who may need that info..

Probably best to ask how you can "take care of the situation" at the side of the road long before you are in jail. No?

I went on Facebook to the two places I had seen that epic post, intending to copy and paste it here so those not on Facebook could see what we are talking about. The post really was an amazing example of white privilege and foreigner entitlement. Sadly, the post had been deleted from both places. But on the Mexpat page the comments remain. Easy to see why the OP deleted her tirade. She was not getting much sympathy.

Trailrunner wrote:I'm glad the transitos made such a big scene, netted a lot of people who blew over the legal limit, refused crass attempts at mordida, and hauled their sorry butts in for a little taste of reality. A big splash that will ripple down and spread the word.

Good job. . . in spite of the whiny, indignant, entitled gringa's comments on FB!

I am so grateful for this board or I would have thought I was the only one who called BS on this tale of woe. I would have said something on the thread (which has now been taken down by the OP) but I get jumped on so badly every time I dare to voice my opinion even when or ESPECIALLY when I can back it up with facts. This person isn't a newbie by any stretch.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:I went on Facebook to the two places I had seen that epic post, intending to copy and paste it here so those not on Facebook could see what we are talking about. The post really was an amazing example of white privilege and foreigner entitlement. Sadly, the post had been deleted from both places. But on the Mexpat page the comments remain. Easy to see why the OP deleted her tirade. She was not getting much sympathy.

Where I saw the original post she had over 230 responses and I'd venture 99% were Poor Baby type. (Just joined Mexpat Lake Chapala and don't remember which FB page I saw her post.

Carry Bean wrote:

Lady Otter Latté wrote:I went on Facebook to the two places I had seen that epic post, intending to copy and paste it here so those not on Facebook could see what we are talking about. The post really was an amazing example of white privilege and foreigner entitlement. Sadly, the post had been deleted from both places. But on the Mexpat page the comments remain. Easy to see why the OP deleted her tirade. She was not getting much sympathy.

Where I saw the original post she had over 230 responses and I'd venture 99% were Poor Baby type.  (Just joined Mexpat Lake Chapala and don't remember which FB page I saw her post.

One place (a Friend sharing it) was mostly Poor Baby until I commented. I was not mean but pointed out a couple of things. The Mexpat page was much less sympathetic. Unbelievable that so many people went to instant outrage that the police were cracking down on (certain) people drinking and driving! The OP pointed out that one of the others arrested was a "respectable businessman" who "was not staggering or slurring his words."

I do doubt they had an actual breathalyzer on site. The smell, your behavior and attitude was probably all they needed. The woman admitted to drinking and didn't try to say she wasn't. She was upset that they pulled her over for no reason (she didn't think this was legal...jaja) and the conditions in the jail.

MexicoPete wrote:I've seen several posts on the subject, one suggesting that the officer would get as close as possible to the person driving the car hoping to smell alcohol and then if smelling same that this was all that was required to fail the test.

Other posts suggest that there are many persons while driving under the influence and that it is good that the police are clamping down on these drunk drivers.

I am hoping to somehow learn what really is happening. Thank you all for your informative posts

Pete, I have been through DUI checkpoints in the States. You first get flashlight in the face for visual check. Officer leans in close to smell for alcohol. You get asked a couple of questions. I was always waved on through after that. But, if the officer suspects anything you are invited out of your car for a field sobriety test and/or breathilizer. Someone posted somewhere that he was stopped at that checkpoint. He had had a beer at lunch, so it was on his breath. He was given the breathilizer and was under legal limit so sent on his way. Nothing going on here except an entitled foreigner getting caught DUI and being really indignant about it.

Exactly.

Well, she sure isn't shy judging by other posts of hers on Facebook but on the post I saw most seemed to be newbies and several said something to the effect of they were rethinking moving here or staying here (which is fine with me.)

Carry Bean wrote:Well, she sure isn't shy judging by other posts of hers on Facebook but on the post I saw most seemed to be newbies and several said something to the effect of they were rethinking moving here or staying here (which is fine with me.)

Well sure. If you can't drink and drive with impunity and will not receive special treatment when you get arrested, what is the point of living in Mexico? Hope all those blustering about that woman's "unfair" treatment follow through on their threat to move away or not come here in the first place.

This is the origional post for those who did not see it. What I read is not musch different than what happens in the US. The only exception might be taht there would be a bunch of transport cars to take offenders to the pokey rather than cuffing folks to chairs. Most places do not offer blankets, calls for pet care, nor do they care when your confinement time is up, when it is up you head to the street and can figure out how to get home.


BE AWARE !!!
I was jailed last nite because of a sting operation in several places, on the Carretera almost at Walmart, near Ixtlahuacan and in at least one place in Guad (and maybe more) and the police were pulling cars off the road for no reason to check for alcohol and if anyone had a whiff of alcohol they were put in jail. There was a huge bunch of people who were jailed. Another person later told me that they were stopping 3 cars at a time (again for no reason), processing those 3 and then stopping another 3.
I was coming home from an evening with friends, dinner and drinks, at their home. I drove a friend to her house and then as I approached, moving slowly, I saw a huge amount of lights and police milling around across the street from where I live and assumed there was an accident. As I approached the chaos, I was directed to stop and was blocked from proceeding further. They made me take a breathalizer test, PULLING me out of the car and SHOVING me to a table where they were taking the tests. There were police milling all around. You would have thought that there was a huge accident or a narco problem. Someone told me that there were around 20 police, just in that place.
Normally, at least in the states, you are not stopped unless you are violating a traffic rule, like speeding or weaving, etc. and then checked for alcohol. I was not violating any traffic rule, nor was anyone else. They were just driving down the street and stopped in groups of 3 cars.... no rhyme or reason as to why cars were selected.
After the breathalizer, I was SHOVED into a chair and HANDCUFFED to the arm of the chair. Since I was not yelling or screaming or in any way being abusive verbally and of course not physically, I was shocked and horribly upset and didn’t know what was going on. They took away my cell, my keys, everything and told me that I could only make a call when I got to the jail. There was a man next to me who was similarly shoved into a chair and handcuffed and he was asking politely if he could at least tell his wife (who I think was in the car) what was happening. They ignored his pleas. He was very upset, later telling me he had been here for 10 years and had always lauded Mexico to his friends and now just wanted to go back to the states.
Later on, at the jail, I met a former client, upstanding businessman, who told me that he had had one drink, his wife none, but they confiscated his car anyway and his wife had to walk home. Another man told me later that he had gone to buy pizza (earlier in the evening), had one drink and was bringing the pizza home. They let him call his wife so she could come and collect some things out of his car. I was not given that privilege.
Oh, and did I say that this huge sting exercise was literally across the street from where I lived? But they wouldn't let me leave my car and just walk across the street. And, at first they told me that I was going to be in jail for 36 hours and I was frantic for my dog.
After about an hour, I finally was able to persuade one policeman to remove my handcuffs and give me my cell to make one call to a friend who could care for my dog. My friend lives near Ixtlahuacan, and he came out waiting for me and the van so the police could hand him the keys to my house. However, I found out later, they wouldn't allow him to turn around (it was blocked off) so that he couldn't drive to my house to take care of my dog who was then alone in the house for 15 hours without access to go outside to pee.
We were all put in a van (I was allowed to sit up front) but handcuffed again, where we proceeded to a jail in Zapopan. We then sat in a sort of intake area (at this point about 10 people were waiting with me, but there were many more already in jail, at least 30). We were there for about a couple of hours, not allowed to use our cells, and the women not allowed to get anything from our purses. I wasn't even allowed to put on my glasses and read the information they gave to me!
Further, I saw NO ONE who appeared to be drunk. There was NO ONE who was walking unsteadily or sluring words, etc.
Finally I had to sit down with someone who told me that I was going to be there for 24 hours and that I would see a judge at 11p.m. on Monday and would be released about midnight. I was frantic as to what I would do in jail for all that time (and how I would get home around midnight), as they took away everything from me, my purse, my cell, made me take off my jewelry and even take out the rubber band in my hair. I was supposed to be put in a cell with nothing... not even a piece of paper and pen. I was allowed to keep my kleenex and power bar, which was good because we were not given anything to eat or drink and I kept on telling them that I cannot eat gluten (i.e., anything with wheat)
The next step was to see the doctor and I thought I had convinced him that I was old and had a knee replacement and couldn't sleep on the floor, as was the norm. He said that he was going to try to see if my stay could be shortened.
I was put in a large cell with concrete floors with one person sleeping and another woman with whom I spoke for awhile who was also very upset. Although the cell was ringed with concrete benches, you were not allowed to sleep on them. They issued everyone 2 blankets, which appeared to be clean and when I said I was cold (had on a sleeveless blouse and was never given the option of getting things out of my car as some people were). So they did bring me a throw away paper top, similar to something a nurse would wear.
It's not really easy to sleep on a concrete floor, no pillows, with floodlights into the cells, with the staff talking loudly all through the night, with the noise of the talk bouncing and echoing off the concrete walls and floors. And then, the 3rd person in the cell snoring like someone with apnea.
I guess I had convinced the doctor that I was not in good shape and he was able to persuade them to let me go for medical reasons at 6 a.m. And I "lucked out". There was an American businessman whose colleague was coming to pick him up and take him to Ajijic so they arranged for them to take me also.
Now, my car is at the huge transportation building on the north side of Guadalajara where I hear that I will have to give them 2 or 3 thousand pesos to get it back.