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Update on sobriety checkpoints.


La Mision

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Last evening as I was enjoying the company of Jack West, Shirley West, and Averil Miller having their dinner @ La Mision  Jack brought up the topic of the checkpoints last weekend and all the rumors floating around town. Earlier our good friend Gloria Perales came into the restaurant. Gloria is the executive asst. to the Presidente of Chapala. I then told them that Gloria was in the restaurant and I would find out from her what is the truth.  To make this as short as possible I spoke with her about all that had happened and she told me, and then even came to Jack's table and repeated what was told to me. Bottom line the Presidente is not a happy camper as he was supposed to be given a date as to when this was going to take place, by the Federales , which he was not, thus not giving Chapala time to prepare and get the news out to the public . 

However the big news and the good news is that this is a once a year event that takes place all over the country and there will be no more roadblocks this weekend and in the future until it happens again next year.

I don't mean to imply that the Validad will stop looking for impaired drivers especially on weekends but the Federales doing these organized check stops will not be happening every weekend as people have been led to believe .

As a former police officer I have witnessed the death and carnage that can be caused by impaired drivers and ask us all to be responsible, but here in Mexico I am more concerned with the young who drive cars that should not even be on the road and have been drinking or doping for hours and then get behind the wheel, then I am of a senior citizen Gringo who may have had a few glasses of wine with his or her dinner and then is driving home and is in bed by 10:00 PM.

Lets all be responsible Please. 

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4 minutes ago, La Mision said:

I am more concerned with the young who drive cars that should not even be on the road and have been drinking or doping for hours and then get behind the wheel, then I am of a senior citizen Gringo who may have had a few glasses of wine with his or her dinner and then is driving home and is in bed by 10:00 PM.

While I think many of us would agree with your take on this, it is not how it was conducted.  As to how often it will occur, their publicity releases suggest it will be much more regular than was suggested to you.  We'll just have to wait and see what actually happens, until then at least in our household we will either stick to the restaurants we can walk to or have a completely "dry" designated driver.  

The lower standard being enforced by Jalisco makes even one drink too much of a risk for us given how expensive and unpleasant the fines and arrest procedures are at these check points.  

Thanks very much for your report.

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

While I think many of us would agree with your take on this, it is not how it was conducted.  As to how often it will occur, their publicity releases suggest it will be much more regular than was suggested to you.  We'll just have to wait and see what actually happens, until then at least in our household we will either stick to the restaurants we can walk to or have a completely "dry" designated driver.  

The lower standard being enforced by Jalisco makes even one drink too much of a risk for us given how expensive and unpleasant the fines and arrest procedures are at these check points.  

Thanks very much for your report.

 

 

I appreciate the report, but somehow, I'm not entirely comfortable with relying on the result of a restaurant conversation.

 

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Just now, gringal said:

I appreciate the report, but somehow, I'm not entirely comfortable with relying on the result of a restaurant conversation.

 

This was not just the result of a restaurant conversation but a conversation with the Executive Assistant of the Presidente who had not been drinking but was working with my wife. in the office. She had much information in her I Phone and even shared some of that with us all.   

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14 minutes ago, La Mision said:

This was not just the result of a restaurant conversation but a conversation with the Executive Assistant of the Presidente who had not been drinking but was working with my wife. in the office. She had much information in her I Phone and even shared some of that with us all.   

My point is that is was not an official announcement made to the public in general, as in one made on a news media.

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9 minutes ago, gringal said:

My point is that is was not an official announcement made to the public in general, as in one made on a news media.

Exactly.  The official announcement is to expect more of these checkpoints locally. 

As noted, we will just have to wait and see.  Still, the OP's report is acknowledged and appreciated.

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I haven't posted much lately as I am getting over some kind of minor bacterial infection. But I have read most every post in the Ajijic, animal, and Mexico sections. And I greatly appreciate most every post, even those posts made by those who I disagree with. I find this web board a great source of information

Today I do not drink and drive, but when I got here some 20 years ago, there were times under the very strict Jalisco standards I might have failed the alcohol test. No I did not have that much to drink and probably been legal in my home state; but what surprises me is how strict the  rules are here. In the state of WA, the standard was tightened to 0.8 from 1 maybe forty years ago and here in Mexico, where I assumed the standards were more lax, I have learned that on the contrary the rules are almost twice as strong and anything over 0.41 milligrams of alcohol per liter of exhaled air is considered a violation under Jalisco traffic laws (per todays Guadalajara Reporter)

So thanks all for the great information.

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21 minutes ago, betty7 said:

it is much worse than when you moved here. many people come to town to drink.

Are you kidding!?!? I was able to drink and drive at 17 years old in Puerto Vallarta. At 17, I had to drink a double shot of green Mezcale to join the Yelapa Yacht club. Drinking, especially among men, has been very widespread in Mexico for many, many years. A family man going out on his "El Boracho" night was/is a big part of Mexican culture. What changed, as I have already mentioned, was that an experimental strict crackdown on drinking/driving in Mexico City saved a huge amount on injuries and deaths - way beyond their expectations. Expect things to change all over, I don't know about alcohol consumption, but I read today that alcoholism among men has increased to over 16% in the U.S.A., almost doubling over five to ten years.

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Chillin, I've no doubt what you are describing back then is true.  However, bear in mind that few people had private cars back then and there was a lot less traffic overall.  If anyone of official capacity is following these discussions, I'd like to suggest you'll have a much greater impact on the really significant DWI/DUI by following a more realistic standard and focusing on the truly impaired. 

 

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