Driver's license - 2nd try???

A friend had to take the test for a truck driver's license yesterday. She passed the written test but hit both cones with her pickup in the driving test. The young man either didn't know the drill or ??? but he didn't go through the "do you need the license right away?" schtick, just told her to come back in 3 weeks. She said no one, gringo or Mexican, was passing the driving test and everyone was to come back in 3 weeks.

Question: can she now take the test again in Guad or again in 3 weeks in Guad? What happens if she goes back to Chapala and still can't park between the cones? She has a 3/4 ton truck and the cones are against the curb. No way to see them without x-ray vision. Will they ask for the bribe then? Suggestions please.

From what I've read the driving test is much easier in Guadalajara,that's where I got mine.

Yea my wife had to do the cone thing for her regular license. They put the
cones right next to the bumper on her Nissan Micra. So the distance between
the cones depends on the length of the car. Small car owners get no pass.
Don't forget to put on your 4 way flashers before you back up or you will
fail. She passed without bribes and they were very nice to her but she is nice.

Z

If you can navigate Super Lake's parking area without problems you should pass anywhere. IF is the key word.

Flamingo wrote:A friend had to take the test for a truck driver's license yesterday. She passed the written test but hit both cones with her pickup in the driving test. The young man either didn't know the drill or ??? but he didn't go through the "do you need the license right away?" schtick, just told her to come back in 3 weeks. She said no one, gringo or Mexican, was passing the driving test and everyone was to come back in 3 weeks.

Question: can she now take the test again in Guad or again in 3 weeks in Guad? What happens if she goes back to Chapala and still can't park between the cones? She has a 3/4 ton truck and the cones are against the curb. No way to see them without x-ray vision. Will they ask for the bribe then? Suggestions please.

Have your friend try in Chapala again. I took a couple of 200's, 1 - 100 and a couple of 50's just in case.

I'm not the best driver in the world. I got my license about a month ago. I drive a Ford Explorer, Eddie Bauer, not as big as a full size pick up truck. I went out on the test with the young gentleman who works in the office. He placed the cones on the street side exactly at my bumper. I put on my flashers, pulled up to the car in front, door to door, swung the wheel hard and put it within 6" of the curb. Couldn't believe I did it.

As I´ve stated before on another thread, I have a chofer license issued by the state of Jalisco (good for driving a pickup truck) and a regular driver´s license issued by the state of Chiapas. I have never been required to take a driving test in either state because, in Jalisco, when I applied I had a current California license and in Chiapas I had a copy of my stolen Jalisco license to show the examining authorities. For those of you recently moved here, my advice is that you apply for and get your Mexican driver´s license ASAP while you still have a current license issued by whatever jurisdiction anywhere on the planet. Not only should that preclude the need for a driving test but, should you fail the written test you re still properly licensed until you can try again.

If I were in the position of Flamingo´s friend, I´d head right away to Guadalajara and try again. When I got my first Mexican license in Riberas the transito office was notorious for demanding bribery but there was never a hint of corruption in Ocotlan, Guadalajara or San Cristóbal de Las Casas. The Guadalajara license issuing office is a model of efficiency. Go there by all means.

They had a neat trick to solicit bribes in Riberas back in the early 2000s. Written tests were taken with pencil and the examiner would manually grade the tests out of sight. If you were among those applying for a license who had not presented the mandatory "gift" in advance, the transit cop in charge would tell you you had failed the written examination but that he had "fixed" it for you and only for the anticipated donation of $200MXN not for him but for charity. An ingenious scam as there was no way you could contest whether or not you had passed the written test in pencil graded in a back room by a third party you had never met. I suppose that scam has gone by the wayside if the written tests are now computerized.

By the way, this parallel parking obsession the examiners have is absurd. Parallel Parking is not an issue at Super Lake and never has been. Experiencing a fender bender with another blind-as-a-bat, hard of hearing and senile old goober is the problem there. I hate to parallel park and in 12 years of driving at Lakeside and congested San Cristóbal, I have parallel parked no more than five times in a restricted space. Lots of space, no problem.

Beg to differ, dawg:

By the way, this parallel parking obsession the examiners have is absurd. Parallel Parking is not an issue at Super Lake and never has been. Experiencing a fender bender with another blind-as-a-bat, hard of hearing and senile old goober is the problem there. I hate to parallel park and in 12 years of driving at Lakeside and congested San Cristóbal, I have parallel parked no more than five times in a restricted space. Lots of space, no problem.

Every street from Chapala to Jocotepec is parallel parking. SuperLake parking is an invitation to disaster, but that's another matter.

[quote="gringal"]Beg to differ, dawg:

By the way, this parallel parking obsession the examiners have is absurd. Parallel Parking is not an issue at Super Lake and never has been. Experiencing a fender bender with another blind-as-a-bat, hard of hearing and senile old goober is the problem there. I hate to parallel park and in 12 years of driving at Lakeside and congested San Cristóbal, I have parallel parked no more than five times in a restricted space. Lots of space, no problem.

Every street from Chapala to Jocotepec is parallel parking. SuperLake parking is an invitation to disaster, but that's another matter.[/quote]

Just for the record, Gringal, I was writing of parallel parking in a restricted place; that is, restricted by the amount of space in which one has to maneuver because the street is packed with cars. Parallel parking in wide open spaces which can be found by going another block or so down the road, is not the issue since most drivers would rather congregate than walk another block. We don´t even drive in San Cristóbal which is, within the historic center, truly a pedestrian´s paradise. Getting by without a car in Lakeside is more problematic.

By the way, every taxi ride anywhere in San Cristóbal is $22MXN so we just park our car in our garage and walk or take taxis, which are ubiquitous, everywhere including the supermarket. That is not so easy to do at Lakeside and certainly a lot more expensive.

We´ve been parking at Super Lake for 12 years now and have yet to run into other incompetent goobers such as we while picking up our Ritz Crackers and Cheddar Cheese but who knows what awaits down the line. It´s best not to get too smug about these things.

Experience both SOB and NOB has taught me that parking spaces which require a higher than average skill set at parallel parking are quite often the easiest to find. The downside to challenging one's ability to correctly park in one of these tight spots is the lack of skill of the drivers of the vehicles front or rear.

gringal wrote:Beg to differ, dawg:

By the way, this parallel parking obsession the examiners have is absurd. Parallel Parking is not an issue at Super Lake and never has been. Experiencing a fender bender with another blind-as-a-bat, hard of hearing and senile old goober is the problem there. I hate to parallel park and in 12 years of driving at Lakeside and congested San Cristóbal, I have parallel parked no more than five times in a restricted space. Lots of space, no problem.

Every street from Chapala to Jocotepec is parallel parking. SuperLake parking is an invitation to disaster, but that's another matter.

Super Lake parking is a disaster because there are too many "really old gringos" who shouldn't be on the road. They speed thru the parking lot like it's a street. They walk in back of you without regard for cars backing up, knowing that they could be run over. Then there's the monstrous trucks and huge SUV'S like Expeditions, Navigators, Escalades and Hummers that don't belong in Ajijic.

It probably will never happen since, I hear Pancho´s family owns the real estate in which Super Lake is located but my dream is that Super Lake or a store carrying the same products or an even wider selection opens in our new mall/shopping center on the libramiento with a modern facility and ample parking all around. I believe that would be a huge hit here at Lakeside and Super Lake´s present facility is outdated and cramped with a woefully inadequate parking lot. Too bad since Dawg loves shopping there. I remember the hick Super Lake store of 2001 with rotting vegetables and nothing like the grocery selection they have today. I say, wake up realize times have changed. There were no fine retail facilities around here in those days. There are now in spades. Modernize or watch other opportunists fill the void.

I've heard the rent in Laguna is really high so I doubt a grocery will open there but one can always hope.

[quote="Carry Bean"]I've heard the rent in Laguna is really high so I doubt a grocery will open there but one can always hope.[/quote]

We can always hope together, Carry Bean. Super Lake was the standard of the turn of the century. Pancho was brilliant in what he did here. What we need here now is an exotic and fabulously inventoried supermatket of the future catering to locals, Tapatios and foreigners alike and selling food specialties from Jalisco to Yucatan to India to Africa. With the great climate, natural beauty and splendid environment we have, how can a retailer with guts and brains go wrong? This is not the Ajijic of Neil James and the Chapala Burial Society. Turn the page.

How about a Trader Joe's?

CheenaGringo wrote:How about a Trader Joe's?

Trader Joe´s is a paean to mass produced frozen and processed foods. An upper-middle class joke on the uninformed. A massive fraud in my opinion. A closer approximation to my idea would be something akin to the Polk Street Market in San Francisco strictly adhering to demands for absolutely fresh, organically grown local produce accompanied by the freshest seafood and meats and a variety of fresh and dried spices of the best quality.

Bear in mind that "organic" produce in Mexico, where there are no enforced standards, could just as well mean "grown in pig shit". Watch yo ass down here.

I'm sure some of you remember the meager beginnings of SuperLake, even before it was called SL. Around 1985, Leopoldo Paz (the principal owner of SL), put a small streetside vegetable stand where the checkers are now. That was it, as the main operation was on the plaza in SAT.
Over the years and many additions later, you have what you have now.
He (Pollo....and Pancho,his nephew), have climbed the ladder, one rung at a time.

I'd never slam Super Lake. Pancho does a great job meeting people's demands & those who gripe about the prices don't have to shop there. I can only imagine the hassles he has getting some these imported items down here.

Going back to the OP, I was just reading on a Michoacán message board this morning where Michoacán requires a physical prior to renewal. These physicals can only be performed by an approved clinic and not by ones personal doctor. I would say be thankful Jalisco doesn't require such.

CheenaGringo wrote:Going back to the OP, I was just reading on a Michoacán message board this morning where Michoacán requires a physical prior to renewal. These physicals can only be performed by an approved clinic and not by ones personal doctor. I would say be thankful Jalisco doesn't require such.

Not to worry, simply take an extended vacation and move to Veracruz for a couple of months renting a trailer if you must to get a utility bill. Like BS degrees from the University of Georgia in Athens, just drive down the road in Veracruz, holding a $500 Peso bill out the window on any street corner and you´ll get a driver´s license for life with no tests of any kind. You laminate it later with your picture. In Athens, pesos won´t work and you need to use USD for that diploma but it´s the same system.

By the way, if they required an "honest" physical to get a driver´s license around Lakeside, somebody could make a killing with a mini-van taking goobers to Super Lake and back home because half the town´s foreigners would be de-licensed and sitting at home fretting about how they were going to get Ritz Crackers, Cheddar Cheese and Mogen David for that day´s Wheel Of Fortune broadcast.

Durango also requires a doctor's OK. The man they sent me to was a tired old man. His assessment was if one could walk into his office, one was fit to drive.

In Cabo San Lucas they'll even make you a Mexican on your license. The last big fugitive caught here had a license issued there which stated she was Mexican.

http://fulanofiles.blogspot.mx/2010/11/american-fugitive-captured-and-deported.html