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SMV extorted by Spanish Border Patrol!

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#103
Toasted said:
Did you even read what he wrote. Shock horror, jauqo, things are different in different parts of the world!
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I read it very clearly and as I have clearly stated it was nothing more than a shake down.



$2800 us dollars is extremely steep for a driver infraction if that was indeed the case :)


Those who are offended by what Vic is stating,what is the average fine for such an infraction by a driver?
 
#106
the driver who was apparently the cause of this charge, who allegedly did have a violation a month ago, was not the driver at the time of going through the border check point. And in the video states that the border guards had no "right" to check his papers as he wasn't driving at the time.

If that truly is the case then it really was a shake down.

even if it wasn't, as soon as they started to 'fake' not speaking English is absolutely when an abuse of power came in to play and this clearly is a sign, like many have stated, as a shake down.

It's not a slight against Spain, Spaniards, or anyone, it's just a plain and simple these select few guards are gonna have some fun karma bitin' them in the a** down the road.... no pun intended :p
 
#107
JAUQO III-X said:
$2800 us dollars is extremely steep for a driver infraction if that was indeed the case :)
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In the UK there is a maximum fine of £2,500 (US$4,000) for breach of the drivers' hours rules, and a maximum fine of £5,000 (US$8,000) for failing to install or use a tachograph. Deliberate falsification of a tachograph chart can result in up to 2 years imprisonment/£5,000 fine.
 
#108
GaryM said:
In the UK there is a maximum fine of £2,500 (US$4,000) for breach of the drivers' hours rules, and a maximum fine of £5,000 (US$8,000) for failing to install or use a tachograph. Deliberate falsification of a tachograph chart can result in up to 2 years imprisonment/£5,000 fine.
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Thank you Gary but what is it in the region that Vic is in?



Any one that are familiar with the cost of such fines care to answer that?
 
#109
JAUQO III-X said:
$2800 us dollars is extremely steep for a driver infraction if that was indeed the case :)
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Link I posted earlier had the old news from 2002 where one of the directors of Nokia got a speeding ticket that was 116 000 euros. Tickets are based on a fixed percentage of your annual income where we live (of course there is also a minimum amount for those with small income). But that amount the SMV-driver got doesn't sound off even from a Northern European perspective.
 
#111
That just happened to my friends in the same place (Basque, not sure that it was this crossing!). They were touring with Cindy Blackman and Vernon Reid, they said they weren't going to let them through because they didn't have receipts for all of their gear! They pretended to close down, too, like they were going to make them wait their until morning.
 
#113
Marcus said:
Demanding payment on the spot just seems awfully shady.
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Just the way we do things in Europe I'm afraid. Until this year, police in the UK could only deal with foreign drivers who committed offenses by arresting them if they had committed a serious offense (e.g. drink-driving) or letting them go if they had committed a less serious offense (e.g. speeding) as there was no way to collect on a fine issued ("Don't worry officer, I'll mail a cheque when I get back to the states. Honest!")

Now though, police have the power to issue on-the-spot fines to foreign drivers. So if you come to the UK and drive about while talking on your phone you could end up having to hand over $100 before you are free to go.

I'm curious now as to how police in other countries deal with foreign drivers. Honour system? Jail?
 
#116
I am completely ignorant about Spanish/Basque commercial driving laws and have nothing to say about the legitimacy of this particular incident.

However, I must comment on the general bashing of "other countries" for having different laws and customs, particularly this:

Buogon said:
Yes this is the life overseas ,their is a lot worst cases than this, your star status means nothing to these people. It happens here but only behind the scenes.
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What a fantastically rotten attitude.

Oooh, what a scary and awful place this "overseas" must be. Way to act like a close-minded, condescending, arrogant know-it-all by bashing every country in the world except your own (and maybe Mexico and Canada?).

So from what you said life in the U.S. is automatically better because if you have "star status" you're above the law? And because the corruption is better hidden, "behind the scenes"? Well hooray! Somebody get me a visa, I have seen the light and am eager to give up my horrible "life overseas" to pursue the american dream. :spit:

Every place can be good or bad, for a million different reasons, for each particular person, in each specific moment. You can't just lazily lump the whole planet into good ("us") and bad (in your words, "those people").

This whole vibe of "look at them euro jerks! nothing bad like that would ever happen where I come from" that a few people are giving in the thread is just very disappointing.
 
#117
Have any of the American contributors to this thread never been messed around by state troopers? If so perhaps you've never driven a car.

I don't think it would be possible to argue with a state cop in the USA for that long without somebody getting tasered.
 
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