Yes! I Won

This didn't exactly happen yesterday but I must record the story for posterity. Last January while driving to Las Lajas beach with Donna and Ron a bus pulled out in front of me and was going very slowly. I couldn't pass as I had a double solid line but as soon as it became dotted and I could see clearly that there was nothing coming for a full mile I made my move. I had no sooner pulled back to my lane in front of the bus when I spotted a police check-stop in the distance.

Usually I show my license and then am waved on but this time, after showing my ID, the young punk officer motioned me over to the side of the road. When he approached my car he informed me that he was going to give me a ticket. Incredulous I asked what for. For passing on a curve I was told. But, I argued, the line was dotted and I could see for a kilometer or more that there was nothing coming. No, I was told, in Panama it is illegal to pass on a curve. Again I protested but he was insistent that he was going to write me a ticket. I think that this was my opportunity to offer him a bit of cash perhaps to buy a soda were he feeling thirsty, but since I don't do bribes I prefer to take my lumps. He then wrote me up and I was PISSED. I informed him that I had done nothing wrong and that I was going to go back and take a picture. It seemed to me that if he could me see a mile away, I could perhaps see him.

Well this is my picture. You can clearly see that, although there still is a slight curve in the road the lines are clearly dotted. I proceeded back to the officer to show him the picture. He referred me to the older officer on duty who informed me that I could take the ticket and picture to Transito and submit a form and that if I won they would cancel the ticket. I thinks to myself, yeah right! I had 20 days to dispute it and if I lost there would be a fine for paying late.

When I got back I contracted Lourdes, my cleaning gal to go with me and in due time off we went to Transito to dispute the ticket. When we got there the bag (turns out the Spanish word is grosera) that we needed to talk to informed Lourdes that they had no forms until after the 3rd of Feb. Lourdes graciously thanked her and went away. I informed Lourdes that my 20 day grace period expired on Jan the 30 and I wasn't leaving today without submitting my case.

In the end, after waiting until after 1:00 (we started at 9:30) and then coming back at 1:45 with all of the relevant documentation grosera stands up, pushes her chair in and informs us that she is going for lunch. The relevant documents included, among other things, a copy of my driving record. To obtain this we needed to wait in line at a window (there were 2 side by side both of which were were connected inside to a single room) At the first window we made the request for the document and were given a piece of paper which we then had to take to the next window. After waiting in line at the next window we paid the princely sum of $1 and with receipt in hand we returned to the first lineup to obtain the document, arg-h-h-h-h-h-h.

Mercifully some young bright thing showed up 15 min later after grosera left us dumbfounded and happily received our documents so by 2:00 we were finally on our way having wasted only 3/4 of a day.

Oh yes I almost forgot, you need to carry in your vehicle a copy of the rules of the road, all in Spanish of course, and even thought you may not understand a word of it, failure to have it in your possession could net you a nice fine. I used this to my advantage (since I had already paid $10 for the book) and photocopied the page that says you can pass if the line is dotted...duh!

Two weeks later I returned to find that they ruled in my favor and my ticket was dismissed YEAH!!!! Lourdes and I did the happy dance right in the office.

***Note to young policeman, 'Never mess with a woman who is sure she is right'...Lourdes tells me he will get a talking to for not knowing the rules of the road himself...HA!