We are in the process of building a house on Playa Los Destilederos in Pedasi, Panama. We travel back to Panama every 6-8 weeks to check on the progress. We always fly into PTY and rent a car to make the drive over to Pedasi. Like a lot of folks, I speed all the way there but have never been pulled over. Until we were driving back to PTY last month and got stopped on Highway 1 somewhere between Divisa and La Chorerra.(I am not going to be more specific as to the location to protect the guilty!)
The cop was standing in the road and signaled for me to pull over to the side of the road. He came up to the car, I gave him my Tennessee drivers license and US passport, We chatted a little bit but I am not completely fluent so I didnt understand some of what he was saying. However, he did say, "Do you want me to write you a ticket". I didnt respond at all to that so he said it a couple more times. I just told my wife, who speaks almost no Spanish, that he was going to write us a ticket.
But he didn't run my license, he didnt go back to his motorcycle, he just continued to stand beside the car. He said a couple other things but I clearly didnt understand him and he knew it.
Until he said, ?"Refresco para mi"? I actually told my wife that this cop is actually asking me for soda! LOL! He probably thought that I was an idiot! But once I said that to my wife, I immediately realized he wanted some money. So, I opened my wallet and the only bill that I had was a $50. I told him that, and he said he could make change. I gave him the $50, he went back to his motorcycle, and then came back to my car, and handed me $30. He must have a cash register back there! We made some small talk about his favorite team (NY Yankees) and my favorite team (Atlanta Braves) for 5 or 10 minutes and then we drove off. No harm no foul.
I was definitely speeding and deserved a ticket or at least a warning. So, to be able to pay $20 immediately and not have to come back to court for the ticket was absolutely fantastic. I have no problem resolving clear violations in that manner. I don't know if that is customary for Panama or not. Where I would have a problem is if he had pulled me over for NO reason other than to extract money from me. But that was clearly not the case in this situation. I was happy to give him $20 and it be over. I dont know if $20 is the going rate or not but it felt about right to me.
The cop was standing in the road and signaled for me to pull over to the side of the road. He came up to the car, I gave him my Tennessee drivers license and US passport, We chatted a little bit but I am not completely fluent so I didnt understand some of what he was saying. However, he did say, "Do you want me to write you a ticket". I didnt respond at all to that so he said it a couple more times. I just told my wife, who speaks almost no Spanish, that he was going to write us a ticket.
But he didn't run my license, he didnt go back to his motorcycle, he just continued to stand beside the car. He said a couple other things but I clearly didnt understand him and he knew it.
Until he said, ?"Refresco para mi"? I actually told my wife that this cop is actually asking me for soda! LOL! He probably thought that I was an idiot! But once I said that to my wife, I immediately realized he wanted some money. So, I opened my wallet and the only bill that I had was a $50. I told him that, and he said he could make change. I gave him the $50, he went back to his motorcycle, and then came back to my car, and handed me $30. He must have a cash register back there! We made some small talk about his favorite team (NY Yankees) and my favorite team (Atlanta Braves) for 5 or 10 minutes and then we drove off. No harm no foul.
I was definitely speeding and deserved a ticket or at least a warning. So, to be able to pay $20 immediately and not have to come back to court for the ticket was absolutely fantastic. I have no problem resolving clear violations in that manner. I don't know if that is customary for Panama or not. Where I would have a problem is if he had pulled me over for NO reason other than to extract money from me. But that was clearly not the case in this situation. I was happy to give him $20 and it be over. I dont know if $20 is the going rate or not but it felt about right to me.
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