Pretty frank discussion, including some long time travelers
It is impossible for me to speak to the riding dirty in Jamaica issue. I can count on one hand the times I have ever been in a vehicle in Ja w/o me behind the wheel. I drive. That said I will mention that over the years I have seen many many times travelers in gypsy/rasta cabs in a police stop on the side of the road with that what did I get myself into stricken look on their face, saw some out between the Riu's and Orange Bay the other morning with the contents of their luggage strewn on the verge.
I can speak to the driver stops in Ja. I got to thinking last night and realized that I have with all trips combined over a years experience of driving Jamaican roads. Much of it is not just a run to HiLo, a good day for me is to pick up kids in the hills and run them to school in Green Island and then cut back up and over to a friends farm on the south coast. A thrill is to pick a road on the map that goes from A2 on the south coast to A1 on the north with a stop in Mandeville or MoBay. Thank god rentals do not charge mileage in Jamaica.
I should note that I'm a 50 plus male and I have never had an officer ask me if I work out, laughing with you kat.
That said I have been involved in about every type of stop available in Jamaica. From seat belt checks to radar stops to very serious JDF searching for weapons and drugs stops. I should note that for every stop I have been in I have driven through countless others.
To be educational to potential drivers here are my opinions.
Never never drive dirty in Jamaica, I have had officers take a car apart for no reason. Was I scared or intimidated, not really, if the are getting weapons and drugs off the streets more power to them. That which keeps me and my family safer I cheer.
In all of the stops have I ever had the feeling that this was a "give me a little something something" stop. Not really, I control the flow of the conversation.
That said, there are traffic laws in Jamaica. Have I been stopped for 80 in a 60, have I been stopped for 90 in an 80, have I been stopped for no seat belt? Yeas to all. Have I been issued a ticket everytime? No I control the flow of the conversation, yes sir, no sir, I was watching the beautifal countryside versus my speed gauge sir. I treat a stop in Ja the way I do the multiple hits I take in the states, it is my perception that controls the conversation.
That said have I ever paid a tax on the side of the road. I am ashamed to say I have and that it was at my instigation. I was doing wrong and didn't want to go to the department of revenue and pay a ticket. If you read the papers in Ja you will notice that they are cracking down on police extortian right now, I would be very careful what I talked to an officer about.
Have I been to the department of revenue and paid for a ticket? Yes more than once. Once again I was speeding, I did not have my seat belt attached, I broke the rules, the officer was doing his job. I do the same in the states.
Face it, we try to make it sound like the police are only extortionist. In some instances they are. But I notice every story starts with us travelers as guilty parties. I feel happy to have the officers on the roads and by ways, a civil society polices itself with laws.
