SMV extorted by Spanish Border Patrol!

[CatfishStudios]

This looks like an unfortunate misunderstanding...and with the character these men "Vic and Stan" have shown in the past, Im sure they will come to this realization. I hope they clear it up soon before it tarnishes any reputations.

 

[Phil Smith]

Just incredible! Thanks to all the patient people who have posted information re drivers' hours.

If you're driving in a country, you have to abide by their rules and converse in their language. If I got stopped, I wouldn't put it on YouTube saying how wrong it was. In fact, the officers might request that I stop filming while they were checking my license and registration (which by the way, we do not have carry with us in the UK).

One should respect the laws of the land. Accusing authorities of 'robbing' them, and so the police of being corrupt, is undeniably wrong. I hope Mr. Wooten posts a video with a retraction of the accusation in the very near future.

The drivers are all from the EU and familiar with the system of breaks, speed, etc. Their assertion is that the information that would indicate that they were in compliance was not checked but the allegation of non-compliance was asserted. This is why the allegations of corruption are being made.

 

[Honk'n_down-low]

Well I am going to say it - in case no one else did!

Youz got to Pay to Play!!

 

[6stringbassist]

You were stopped, held, and fined for a large amount of money for a law that you may or may not understand.

The drivers were, as I understand it German. So what's not to understand ?
It's EU law, Germany is part of the EU, unless they're incredibly stupid or very new to international driving I can't see how they could not know what was going on.

Would so much fuss be made if they were European bass players on a US tour ?

 

[Phil Smith]

What central database are all of the traffic police in the EU member states using to check, whether or not some one has paid a fine for a past infraction i.e. 28 days ago? If there isn't any, this driver who is not even behind the wheel could logically be fined over and over again for the same thing.

 

[julo]

The drivers were, as I understand it German. So what's not to understand ?
It's EU law, Germany is part of the EU, unless they're incredibly stupid or very new to international driving I can't see how they could not know what was going on.

Would so much fuss be made if they were European bass players on a US tour ?

There are no EU laws per se. Agreements on some points but no laws really.
Speed limits are still a priviledge of a country, even though they tend to harmonize these days.

 

[julo]

I would pretend not to speak English if I were a cop just to see/hear what the people has to say like: I hope they don' look under Johnny's seat that's were we keep the good stuff.

Cops are not cowboys over there (they would like to be thought) they tend to ask questions and then tazer.

This thread is highly entertaining.

 

[Marcus]

The drivers were, as I understand it German. So what's not to understand ?
It's EU law, Germany is part of the EU, unless they're incredibly stupid or very new to international driving I can't see how they could not know what was going on.

Would so much fuss be made if they were European bass players on a US tour ?

I would certainly think there would be a fuss made if a video was made of the incident as it occurred.

 

[7string]

The drivers are all from the EU and familiar with the system of breaks, speed, etc. Their assertion is that the information that would indicate that they were in compliance was not checked but the allegation of non-compliance was asserted. This is why the allegations of corruption are being made.

The bus was spot-checked, the logs recalled and a driver fined for an infringement. A German TB member has even translated the conversation that one of the driver's was having on the phone.

Then again, if you want to believe that it was a sting operation set up to delay American bass players from getting to a gig that they were robbed or whatever other tosh has been spouted on here go right ahead.

Here's a thought to be going on with though. Here in the UK, we drive on the other side of the road and we have left hand drive European lorries on our roads. Not only is some of their driving erratic, but some drivers do not take regular breaks as they should. Would you rather that driver be found out by a spot check and fined, or would you rather talk to the family of a someone who's been taken out by a guy who has had a nap driving a 40 ton truck?

Laws are there for a reason, SMV's bus was stopped a transgression of the law has been found and a fine paid. End of.

 

[Buogon]

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:



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.

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.

First of all, Zureta your attitude smells rotten to me ,i did not name countries at all . I'm a overseas traveler and have seen first hand different type of things happen ,as well as here in the US . Other posters have told their stories ,but you chose to pick my quote, very thin headed of you, seems to me that you had a bad attitude about this thread. You also make it seem like you have never seen anything bad happen.

What a imagination you have , certain stars do get away with things . Corrupt people don't care (those type of people) i did not say the cops were. You said i bashed every country except US, Mexico and Canada .End of story.

 

[JansenW]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the U.S., paying fines directly to enforcement agents is not permitted.

It would leave the enforcement agents to charges of abuse.
It would leave the public at the mercy of scrupulous agents.

 

[kevteop]

First of all, Zureta your attitude smells rotten to me ,i did not name countries at all . I'm a overseas traveler and have seen first hand different type of things happen ,as well as here in the US .

I see you're from New Jersey. Are the Monmouth County police still making millions of dollars a year from DUI checkpoints on every major road on every weekend night all summer?

Are Jersey state troopers still the real-life equivalent of Judge Dredd?

Are Newark cops still in favour of demanding you make a court appearance (that they have no intention of showing up to) rather than asking you to produce documents at a police station, which would be much more convenient for everybody involved and waste less state money?

NJ cops (with the exception of some small-town cops who were helpful and cool) are some of the biggest dicks I've ever come across.

 

[Phil Smith]

The bus was spot-checked, the logs recalled and a driver fined for an infringement. A German TB member has even translated the conversation that one of the driver's was having on the phone.

I don't trust what he claims the person said as I don't trust the individual that claimed the driver at 5:00 in said that he did have an overage 3 weeks ago because THAT IS NOT WHAT HE SAID!

Then again, if you want to believe that it was a sting operation set up to delay American bass players from getting to a gig that they were robbed or whatever other tosh has been spouted on here go right ahead.

It could just have to do with foreign vehicles, simply just that, and it's not about delaying, it's about getting paid, generating revenue.

Here's a thought to be going on with though. Here in the UK, we drive on the other side of the road and we have left hand drive European lorries on our roads. Not only is some of their driving erratic, but some drivers do not take regular breaks as they should. Would you rather that driver be found out by a spot check and fined, or would you rather talk to the family of a someone who's been taken out by a guy who has had a nap driving a 40 ton truck?

This is a red herring, no one is saying the the authorities shouldn't enforce the law, I am saying that the shouldn't be "stealing" hiding behind the cover of the law big difference.

Laws are there for a reason, SMV's bus was stopped a transgression of the law has been found and a fine paid. End of.

The problem is we don't know that a transgression was found and people there on the ground dispute that there was a transgression.

 

[kevteop]

The problem is we don't know that a transgression was found and people there on the ground dispute that there was a transgression.

Well I don't buy that the bus was stopped because of the transgression, it seems like a routine stop to me, but maybe one was found.

It's difficult to trust the testimony of the "people there on the ground" because what we're hearing is Victor's take on it, and Victor clearly doesn't understand Spanish or have the faintest idea what is going on throughout the whole ordeal. All we've got to go on is what the driver says, and he might not be feeling like being 100% honest on camera if he's just walked back onto the bus having cost the tour $3500.

 

[Buogon]

I see you're from New Jersey. Are the Monmouth County police still making millions of dollars a year from DUI checkpoints on every major road on every weekend night all summer?

Are Jersey state troopers still the real-life equivalent of Judge Dredd?

Are Newark cops still in favour of demanding you make a court appearance (that they have no intention of showing up to) rather than asking you to produce documents at a police station, which would be much more convenient for everybody involved and waste less state money?

NJ cops (with the exception of some small-town cops who were helpful and cool) are some of the biggest dicks I've ever come across.

 

[Zureta]

First of all, Zureta your attitude smells rotten to me ,i did not name countries at all . I'm a overseas traveler and have seen first hand different type of things happen ,as well as here in the US . Other posters have told their stories ,but you chose to pick my quote, very thin headed of you, seems to me that you had a bad attitude about this thread. You also make it seem like you have never seen anything bad happen.

What a imagination you have , certain stars do get away with things . Corrupt people don't care (those type of people) i did not say the cops were. You said i bashed every country except US, Mexico and Canada .End of story.

Ah, a war of rotten attitudes! Whose is smellier?

No, seriously. You sound now like a reasonable fellow, so let me try to explain what ticked me off about your comment more than the others. Prepare for long-windedness!

First of all, I agree that bad things happen everywhere.

I mean no personal attack, it's just that your post was the perfect example how much of a jerk move is all this generalizing and then acting like you know everything about foreign matters. And that I can't stand.

You said, and I quote:

Yes this is the life overseas ,their is a lot worst cases than this, your star status means nothing to these people.

Your wording lumped pretty much every country in the world as "overseas" only then to act as an some kind of superior expert on how "those people" (everyone not in the U.S., apparently) live. Very badly, it seems! A lot worse cases! Doesn't it sound like "overseas" is a crappy place? It sure sounded like that me.

You didn't name names, you just vaguely implied badness in every single country except your own. It read and felt close-minded and xenophobic. If that wasn't your intention, than I apologize.

Also, it appeared to me like your main complaint was that "star status" wasn't enough to make authorities give people special treatment in "overseas" countries. That also annoyed me, because no "star" should be able to break the laws just because they're famous. It sounded to me like you meant "in my country stars can do anything, and that's the way it should be". That annoyed me even more! More failures in communication?

The "Mexico and Canada" was an attempt of humor on the extreme meaningless of that condescending "overseas" crap. What the heck does that mean anyway? Is Mexico overseas? Canada?

I could walk, Forrest Gump-style, right out of my home in Curitiba all the way to yours in New Jersey if I wanted (and, of course, the border police let me). Am I overseas? Does the Panama canal count as a sea?

You used a very lazy-minded, annoying generalization with the unfortunate choice of wording "life overseas is this and that". That's all. And talking as if you know all about the lives of foreign people from all over just because you've visited some places rubs me the wrong way. You're not going to see me saying "americans are such and such" because I saw something on TV. It's just not right.

Hey, sorry if I singled you out. Maybe you're right, this thread gave me bad vibes and it was unfair of me to just focus on two lines of, perhaps, badly worded but honest opinions. Your stuff wasn't even the bashiest! Feel free to think I'm thin headed, or thick headed, or whatever makes you happier.

What countries were you talking about, anyway? What did you actually mean by "this is the life overseas"? Who are "those people"? Maybe if you stop implying generalities and start explaining specifics your words won't have such a negative effect on easily-annoyed, excessively wordy guys like me. I just like a good debate.

I'm genuinely curious now about what bad things you have seen, and where, to post such a telling little comment on how bad things are elsewhere.

 

[kevteop]

I'll take that as a "yes" then.

Actually when I got pulled over by a Newark cop it was at Newark airport. I asked him "Is this Terminal B?", he said "Yeah pull over, your inspection sticker's out of date". It wasn't even Terminal B! What an *******. Sure the sticker was a month (actually a week) out of date, but I could've demonstrated the truck was OK without having to fly back to Newark two weeks later to take the documents to court.

I also had a Belmar cop show up at my home at 7am one morning with my pet pig in his car, and because my pig crapped in his car he decided I wasn't allowed to have a pig in that town. I offered to show him the local ordnances (I'd looked them up at the local PD and they'd printed them off for me, for just such an occasion) but he wasn't interested, he arranged a date in court instead. Another ******* who had no intention of showing up.

I've also had a NJ state trooper threaten to cuff me and take me down town because I told him I thought making me walk a straight line along a lane marking of the NJ turnpike wasn't safe.

Honestly your cops are the worst I've ever come across.

 

[Phil Smith]

Well I don't buy that the bus was stopped because of the transgression, it seems like a routine stop to me, but maybe one was found.

It's difficult to trust the testimony of the "people there on the ground" because what we're hearing is Victor's take on it, and Victor clearly doesn't understand Spanish or have the faintest idea what is going on throughout the whole ordeal. All we've got to go on is what the driver says, and he might not be feeling like being 100% honest on camera if he's just walked back onto the bus having cost the tour $3500.

The fee was $2800 or so, the exchange rate being 1.4. So your trust of the officials is implicit because they are officials?

Don't you folks think that there was a discussion as to whether or not these two videos should be made public by the group, a while after the event happened i.e. days after???
The guys on the bus are in a much better position than any of us to make a determination of whether or not they were "robbed" or not and after of days talking about it, we see the video. I'm taking their word for it.

 

[jollygiantchris]

I just wanted to point out that in the great state of Wisconsin when the state police pull you over if you are from another state they make you pay the fine on the spot or they impound your car. They also have the ability to charge in their cars. Mostly because everyone driving from Chicago to Milwaukee from IL didn't pay any tickets for many years.

Another reason why WI sucks. Go Bears

Kinda surprised this kinda sounds like it doesn't happen anywhere else in the US judging by how shocked a lot of my fellow Americans sound. I also wanted to point out to the gentleman that got shaked down by a US customs agent in Bermuda that, as a former federal officer, I can state with 100% certainty that DHS takes those allegations very seriously you should complain they will and DO investigate. Just because it was in Bermuda it does not change this. And people get fired and prosecuted for that. I have physically seen it happen. And at least if they can't bust the guy its a knock on his record and they will be watching him more than they already do.

Oh I forgot to add that most likely recording that stop is illegal and if it happened in the US its a felony and results in you being put on several watch lists in addition to a large fine and jailtime.

Also forgot to add, why is he so shocked and irritated that they didn't speak English. Why would they, they are in Spain.

 

[willgroove2]

heres what Marcus had to say

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