Oh Manny, Manny, Manny, How can you say with a straight face that the cops are not out to get tourists. Heck, they are out to get everyone. Rarely does anyone get the opportunity to get a ticket as the cops make it plain and simple that you can pay them something, often even at your discretion, and it will be faster and easier for you. The best advice I can give to anyone renting a car is to drive about 10 feet off the property of the rental company, pull over somewhere safe and rip off the bumper stickers that say the name of the rental company. Sorry Yessica but countless times I have seen cars pulled over with an obvious tourist standing there talking to the cop and I see a big blue and white EXECUTIVE or red and with AVIS sticker standing out like a magnet has drawn the cop to that car. Do you have a car? And for the unwashed, the police "enforcement" of traffic laws increases dramatically the closer that the date is to December 24, then afterwards, it lets up just as dramatically.
I do say with a straight face that cops are not out to get tourists, in fact it helps my business the fact that many tourists are scared to rent cars. As you said, cops are out to get everyone, not just tourists, but this applies everywhere else in the world (well at least the places I have been to). In USA for example (at least in San Diego and Miami) I often got pulled over for "speeding" even though I was going with the flow of traffic (which means we were all speeding). Where they out to "get me" no, it is just draw of the luck. I feel same thing applies here in Cancun and La Riviera Maya. Keep in mind that most of our income here in La Riviera Maya comes from tourists. If they actually let cops get away with targeting tourists it would scare our tourism away. Compared to other parts of Mexico, cops here respect tourists much more, and it is because they have to, orders come from up above. Granted, when cops pull people over, they do hint towards the bribe, both with tourists and locals. I personally drive around with rental cars and private cars, and I can't say I get hassled more when I driving a rental.
The best way to deal with a cop who is hinting that he wants a bribe is to MISS the HINT! Play dumb. Ask for the ticket. Misunderstand. Tell them you are happy to pay that huge fine they are threatening you with. Meanwhile get the number of the police vehicle and try to get the cop's name. If you turn them in for bribe taking they are in trouble. If they THINK you can turn them in for bribe taking they will let you off without a ticket and they will give up on getting a bribe out of you. The cops rely on the fact that you won't turn them in for taking a bribe. They rely on you believing that it's faster and cheaper to give the cop a tip than to take the ticket. If you convince them that you have no problem going to pay your fine they will want nothing to do with you. The cop doesn't want to have to fill out that huge ticket form.
Thanks, Everbody! Thanks for all the helpful responses to my questions. I think we've decided to wait until later next year for our visit... take our chances during hurricane season in exchange for cheaper prices. All those specials showing up on travel websites right about now are really attractive compared to prices in February. Do things slow down there during hurricane season (because of the threat of bad weather), or is it actually busier because of good prices? As for the police and tourists - I'm not concerned about what happens when a stop is made, just wondered how likely it was that we'd get hassled. We're considering a move to the Lake Chapala area in a few years and I've done quite a bit of research about such things there. There's a good article about police bribes at traffic stops on the MexConnect website: www.mexconnect.com/articles/1829-know-the-law-in-mexico-traffic-police Essentially, it explains some legal issues and explains how to deal with an instance if you think you're being threatened or prompted for a bribe. There's info about an online form you can print out, which shows what information to ask for from the officer (although it's specific to Jalisco, I suspect you could white-out that part and print "generic" copies for use elsewhere in Mexico). Hope that's useful for anybody with concerns about the subject. RiverGirl, the above pretty well goes along with what you're saying. Basically, just ask for the ticket and go pay it instead of offering a bribe. Best to discourage the behavior if it does happen. CancunWithMe... Yes, I think from reading more that the area south of Cancun might work better for us as a base of operations. We'll just have to see what specials are available at the time we decide to go. Thanks for the pointers about Chichen Itza and surrounding areas to see. We have some maps on order and I'll look for these points of interest. H
Thanks, but I'm good on maps... ordered a set from Can-Do after seeing some that a friend got from them. H
I freakin love the maps from Can-Do. I need to order another set cause mine are showing their wear. Thanks for inadvertently reminding me.
Can Do maps = mapchicks maps? By the way, I don't sell maps or anything like that. I have mapsource with Mexico maps, so when in a pinch I can do a snap shot of a map, and give detailed instructions on how to get to a very specific spot.
Yes Manny, they are the same thing. I recommend EVERYONE that goes to Cancun to get one. Or one of their other's if they are all as good as Cancun. Here is the link for anyone that want's to check it out http://www.cancunmap.com/cancun_map.html
Maps Yes, those are the ones I ordered. I got Cancun, Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Mayan Adventure. Each one comes with a whole slew of supplemental maps... received a ton of stuff, all excellent. We love to go exploring and do lots of preliminary research when we're going someplace, so these are going to be really helpful. The friend of mine who recommended them had their map of Cancun from several years ago, which he showed me. When ours came, the Cancun map (at least) was much larger than his, so I guess they've added a lot of stuff. Just FYI, for anybody with older maps, if you're considering an update. H
