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SYSY

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Everything posted by SYSY

  1. Thanks for all the feedback everyone - I'm starting to actually feel like I'm trolling people here now so I started a new Topic for those that are interested in golf carts and are considering using them here at Lakeside. http://www.chapala.com/webboard/index.php?/topic/74089-golf-carting-in-ajijicsan-antonio/#comment-554734 I'd love to address all the negative comments here, but would rather focus on the positive - I understand your position and many have made valid negative points against carts, but I maintain that, in the balance they are safe, economical, fun and a good choice for a certain segment here at Lake Side. I understand most people feel the need to have a car, but I'm not one of them. As for those questioning my reasons for living in Mexico: In Mexico you get to do what you want for the most part without a million rules and regulations.This has its good and bad sides and I've been affected by both. But I've lived here on and off for more than 20 years, with the good and the bad and I still love it - Mexico need not change for me. I speak fluent Spanish, help everyone I can, provide good jobs to locals and generally try to be a good citizen of Mexico - which is now what I am. Mexico is not perfect nor does it try to be - Mexico is Mexico and I love it the way it is - warts and all. I think most of you posting feel and act the the same way at some level or wouldn't even be here. Thanks again for all your comments!
  2. You can get a factura if the person who sells it to you has the original - that's the hard part. Most people don't have facturas for their carts and never got one originally since they also bought it used without one. If you buy a new one from Golf Lozano or SS Autos you can get one, I've heard. My cart does not have an SN I know of, but some must have them. You can also buy a factura and plate for around $6000 pesos with a plate from the State of Mexico. You can do this for cars as well, but transito will pull you over for it to investigate your title. Not sure on the golf carts. These State of Mexico plates are frequently found on cars with a "dubious precedence" hence the cops interest in them. It's good idea to get a plate and a factura if you are not willing to "tip" the cops if they pull you over since they might tow you in that case. Once they tow, you'll need to pay a large fine, so try to avoid that. "Tipping" is cheaper and a lot less hassle. There are only 7 teams of transitos in the area now - they have their plate full so they don't have time to crack down on carts as they might like to, so if you stay on the back roads and have some tip money handy, it's far cheaper in the long run.
  3. Absolutely I resent crazy car owners (don't personalize here - if you are a decent and thoughtful driver, this is not directed at you) - I've almost been killed hundreds of times as a car owner, bicycle rider, pedestrian and a golf cart driver - by CARS incidentally, not carts. Have you not? So I do have some reasons on my side. By using a golf cart, I'm doing my part to REDUCE the deaths and injuries - I'm not asking everyone to do the same, just not help to make owning a cart more onerous. But I'm curious as to the reasons for those that don't like the golf carts. Have they been injured? Run over? Inconvenienced somehow? Really, I'm curious. Because why else would they be harping on the rules and regulations we don't have to follow? Maybe I could be a better carter myself - please, feedback is welcome. Computer Guy: Nice pic - looks like Sun City - also in FL and cars and carts share the roads there, but they do have dedicated cart trails, too - paradise! I've a friend who used to live their. I agree with you - they need to move as fast a possible to make it carts only everywhere
  4. The State of Jalisco has ZERO laws relating to golf carts - they do not issue license plates for them, nor do they require insurance. You cannot get clear title to them since they don't have VIN numbers and also do not come with facturas. Some people do have these, but it's the huge minority. The plates they have are not regulation and will probably get them stopped as often as anything else. Cops make it up as they go and specifically target users for money since it's a grey area. That's the real truth. The reason it's important to discuss this is that we do have the power to influence them and they do respond - especially at higher levels - to our concerns. So if enough people go around saying we need a lot of rules and regulations for golf carts, they will make them just for us. And use them to shake us down as well. Sir, where's your turn signal? Do you have a horn on that? Air bags? Seat belts? A wind shield? They will find something, no matter how carefully you try to follow the rules. They want your money - they could care less about your safety or anyone else - or have you not seen how the locals drive around here? What Mexico should really worry about is getting a bad rap and hurting tourism by making it an unfriendly place to be - this is the real problem and many people go away from Mexico with a very bad taste in their mouth thanks to cops desire to shake them down for money. As for all the accidents and fatalities involving golf carts, not so much. I'm hoping the reason prevails here. The cops should go after the dangerous CAR drivers - you know, the ones that cause you to crap your pants every time you need to cross the carretera and ACTUALLY kill people on a regular basis? And if they do, I'm happy to "tip" them once and a while. I also think theirs some real resentment against golf carters - not sure why, but I'd like to hear from those that really don't like them - maybe I'm missing something?
  5. Thanks once again for all the feedback and the insurance issue is a valid point - it is possible to get hurt or even killed with a golf cart - but it is not the possibility that requires insurance - its the probability. The probability is very low - there are many things that have a low probability of doing damage that do not require insurance to operate. A sail boat for example or even a motorboat. But I think a practical test is in order. You stand 20 feet from my golf cart and I'll head toward you at full speed - if you can't get out of the way in time, you are far too slow to be safely walking around here! Then, let's take a new Suburban and try the same test with double the distance (40 feet)- I'll drive straight at you full power and you need to get away - bonus points if you don't crap yourself. If you feel like you need insurance, buy it. I'm self insured - if I do damage, I'll pay for it.
  6. Thanks everyone for the feedback on my post - even those that did not agree with all of it. I want to say that I'm not attacking car owners in general, just those who feel that they are the rightful owners of the back roads and parking lots. I do agree with most of you that NO Golf Cart should be on the highway or the bike path and they should also obey the rules of the road. Only A-holes part in disabled spots - those that don't need to, of course. Let me further explain why it should NOT be necessary to have insurance, a license plate and a drivers license to use one. The reason cars need all this is tied to their deadly nature: they are complex, several ton missiles traveling at high speed that can do a fantastic amount of damage and kill many people in just a few seconds. The license plates are needed to know who to send to jail when you kill somebodies loved one. A license is also handy to make sure the owners is not totally blind and understands at least a few percent of the many traffic rules. A Golf Cart? You'd pretty much have to have one dropped on you to get hurt. They are slow, comically easy to operate and have killed ZERO people. Why don't people on bicycles need insurance? Pedestrians? Dogs? They really should have it - to cover the cost of getting run over by a car. But, call me a fool, I resent the need to pay in advance for the pain and suffering somebody else is going to do to me. Maybe the car owner should have "I ran over a Golf Cart insurance"? As for the traffic cops that provoke so much fear and loathing here, try to understand. these poor people make zip (like $7000 pesos a month). Sure, many are dickheads that I'd gladly knee in the groin, but take a step back. In the last 5 years, I've paid a total of $1500 pesos in "special" fines - that's nothing. I'll trade that for my yearly $100 USD property tax no problem. And I've only paid when I was going the wrong way down a one way street - it's hard to tell sometimes. So, I don't get worked up, if I do wrong, I pay. At least the money is going to a local family and not getting stolen higher up. They generally won't stop you unless they see you breaking some kind of law. If they do stop you for nothing, tell them you want their name and badge number and take a picture of them like the ones on the site - they hate that. They want the money but don't want to get busted taking it. And for F--ks Sake: stay off the damn highway unless you have a death wish. Another trick for you Cart lovers - drive after 5PM. Traffic cops go home then Thanks again to all for the feedback and please don't take anything I say personally.
  7. To all those complaining about the “Golf Cart” problem and how it’s not fair that they don’t have to pay referendums, get plated or have insurance. And that they get in the way of the rightful users of the roads and parking spaces - cars. Allow me to retort: Cars, not golf carts, are by far and away the biggest problems at Lake Side – no need to look further than the highway any day of the week or the “no place to park” situation in Ajijic. Polluting, expensive, proven to be deadly and massively oversized for the tiny, narrow side streets, cars deal destruction and pain here on a daily basis. Kids, old ladies, dogs and cats all fall victim every year and it’s like, well, so what? I need to get around, don’t I? And these damn golf carts – always getting in my way… Golf carts have a 3.5 horse power electric motor and normally can’t even hit 15 mph, hence no need for all the safety equipment. On the terrible back roads here, they usually go much slower. And I agree, that’s where they belong. Not on the highway or the bike path. But on the frontage roads? Give me a break. You can park 2 golf carts in a parking spot and they are being used in many small tourist towns all over the world as smart transportation. In my mind, car users should give way to golf carts, not the other way around. Golf Carters are doing their part to make life better here by reducing congestion, lowering pollution levels, making less noise, saving energy ($10 USD per month in electricity to run), adding to the fun and interesting flavor of the area and generally being good citizens. They are ideal for shopping and making short trips. And oh yeah, not killing anybody – don’t forget that. Zero is the number of golf cart related fatalities for the last 10 years. Why should we serve as a target for the self-righteous, self-centered and self-serving car population? Seems like it should be the other way around…
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