Mexico Trucker Online

MEXICO CITY – That this sprawling metropolis – where cars routinely sail through red lights, seat belts are seldom worn and *no exam is required to get a driver’s license* – could ever be a place of traffic obedience seems a wistful fantasy.

*Editors Note* This does not apply to Licencia Federal de Conductor

But the city government took a bold step Friday to rein in the chaos as stiff new traffic laws went into effect. Fines for common violations – such as illegal left-hand turns and not wearing seat belts – increased.

Penalties now can be levied against drivers talking on their cell phones, sporting tinted windows or addressing traffic officers disrespectfully. The city also has introduced a point system for individual infractions that can eventually lead to the suspension of a license.

Local lawmakers hope the new rules will help to reduce unsafe driving conditions that have become a major public concern.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has emphasized the need to reduce the culture of corruption in traffic enforcement.

That corruption is driven in part by low wages – the average traffic officer in Mexico City earns about $500 a month – and officers say the mayor has hinted that he may raise salaries if they do a better job of holding drivers accountable for infractions.

On the first day of the new sanctions, traffic police were out in force, clustered around major intersections passing out pamphlets on the rules and stopping lawbreakers left and right.

Sergio Zarate, 20, was stopped for not wearing his seat belt on Insurgentes Avenue, a main thoroughfare, and he will be fined about $25.

Zarate said he was glad to see transit police doing their jobs. “I think the changes are good, especially if they help to reduce the temptation for bribery,” he said.

Antonio Cárdenas, the officer who stopped Zarate, said drivers are often to blame for corruption as they try to avoid the hassle of paying fines.

“Drivers generate corruption because they don’t want to comply with their civic responsibility,” Cárdenas said. “They don’t want to go to the bank and wait in line (to pay their fine), so they offer up money to the officer immediately.”

Officer Alfredo Torres acknowledged that some police seek out bribes for similar reasons – unwillingness to fill out paperwork – and because it is what they are used to doing.

Reuters reported that some drivers fear that heftier fines will only encourage police to demand bigger bribes.

“An ordinary infraction of 1,000 pesos ($93) now costs 5,000 pesos ($463), so they will say, ‘Give me 500 ($46), instead of 50 ($4.63),’ ” messenger Mauricio Alonso said.