Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the challenges expats face when obtaining and maintaining a driver's license in Latin America. He explains that while many police officers may not speak English, they often conduct roadblocks and check for matching documents such as the vehicle's VIN number, the Tarjeta de Circulación (La Circulación), and the car's registration. He emphasizes the importance of having these documents on hand, as not having them can lead to car impoundment. Johnny also highlights the risks of poor record-keeping in Latin America, where documents are often lost or misplaced, and recommends expats to store copies of important paperwork with their lawyers. He concludes by explaining that it's legal to have a notarized copy of the Circulación card in the car, which can be used in case of a police stop.
Johnny then discusses the importance of having a certified circulation document for car ownership in certain regions, explaining that it provides protection in case of theft. He highlights that if a car is stolen, the thieves would only have a copy of the circulation, not the original, which is necessary for transferring the title. He also mentions that without the original circulation, thieves may abandon the car, especially if it's not a high-end vehicle. Johnny talks about the process of paying annual car taxes and obtaining stickers, noting that the cost varies based on the car's age and value. He contrasts this with the first world, where the licensing process is more uniform. Finally, he addresses the issue of expats needing a driver's license, explaining that while foreign licenses are generally accepted, they may still face issues like expired licenses or bribes.
Johnny also discusses the challenges expats face when driving in Latin America, particularly with expired or invalid first-world driver's licenses. He explains that while some cops may attempt to extort money from foreigners, especially tourists, it's often not worth the trouble. He recommends using an international driver's license (IDL) as a legal alternative, which can be obtained online for a fee and is recognized in over 200 countries. Johnny notes that while the IDL requires a valid first-world license, many local authorities are unaware of this requirement and may not verify it, making the IDL a practical solution for expats. He also mentions that some expats have successfully used expired licenses with the IDL, and that the IDL is an impressive and official-looking document that is well-received by locals.
Johnny then discusses the complex and often frustrating process of obtaining residency in Latin countries for expats. He highlights the need for legal assistance, the extensive paperwork required, and the financial investments typically needed, such as real estate purchases or minimum monthly income transfers. He also touches on the irony of Latin American countries encouraging their citizens to migrate illegally to the U.S. or Europe for remittances while simultaneously requiring foreigners to prove they can support themselves. Johnny notes that many expats rely on lawyers to navigate the system, often paying significant fees, and that obtaining a driver's license as a resident can also involve unofficial practices, such as bribes, which are not openly acknowledged.
Finally, Johnny discusses the ease of obtaining a driver's license for expats in certain countries, particularly highlighting the UK and other English-speaking nations. He shares a story about a British expat who had a driver's license valid for 34 years, which he explained was a learner's license. Johnny then explains that expats can get a learner's permit in many English-speaking countries by passing a short written test, which can be downloaded online. This permit is often accepted as a valid driver's license in Latin America, where there is no distinction between learner and regular licenses. Johnny also mentions that in many Latin American countries, the driver's test is minimal, often consisting of a written test and an eye exam, and that private driving schools can provide licenses for a fee, though only accessible to those with higher economic means.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the state of driving education and road safety in Latin America, highlighting the disparity in access to formal driver's education, the prevalence of corruption in private driving schools, and the lack of road safety awareness among drivers. He also notes the dangerous conditions on the roads, including the absence of center lines and the common disregard for traffic rules, which contribute to a high accident rate.
Topics
Driver's license in Latin America, Roadblocks and police checks, Tarjeta de Circulación (La Circulación), Record-keeping and fraud in Latin America, Legal protections for expats, Car ownership and theft protection, Annual car taxes and stickers, Driver's licenses for expats, Expats and driving in Latin America, International driver's license, Extortion by local authorities, Legal alternatives for expats
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:34 Introduction to the Topic of Driver's Licenses in Latin America 00:01:15 What Police Check for During a Stop 00:01:59 The Importance of the Tarjeta de Circulación 00:02:59 Consequences of Not Having the Circulation Card 00:04:19 Recommendations for Expats to Keep Important Documents Safe 00:05:00 Legal Options for Having a Notarized Copy of the Circulation Card 00:05:12 The Importance of Certified Circulation Documents for Car Ownership 00:06:11 Picture This: The Experience of a Stolen Car 00:08:12 Annual Car Taxes and Sticker Requirements 00:08:47 Expats and Driver's Licenses in Certain Regions 00:09:53 Cops in Latin America and Extortion 00:11:53 International Driver's License as a Legal Alternative 00:13:34 Expats Successfully Using Expired Licenses with IDL 00:14:32 The Residency Process for Expats in Latin Countries 00:14:36 The Role of Lawyers in the Residency Process 00:14:40 Paperwork and Requirements for Residency 00:14:45 Documentation and Translation Needs 00:14:50 Financial Requirements for Residency 00:14:55 Translation of Documents into Spanish 00:14:59 Timeframe for Residency Applications 00:15:03 Variation in Residency Requirements by Country 00:19:43 The British Expat's Driver's License Story 00:20:54 The Benefits of a First World Learner's Permit 00:24:24 The Cost and Accessibility of Driving Education in Latin America 00:24:46 Scandals Involving Private Driving Schools and Corruption 00:25:50 Illegal Driving and Police Inaction in Latin America 00:27:17 High Accident Rates and Road Safety Issues in Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:12] Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller, and you're listening to The Expat Files, living in Latin America, the one of a kind show that tells you what it's like to live, work, play, and or retire in Latin America, so let's get started. I've had a lot of emails from people asking me how to go about getting a driver's license down here, and expats often ask what happens when their first world license expires, what do they do about driving around with a Texas driver's license that's past its due date? I think I can give you some very good information on that, and it'll surprise you. First of all, 95% or more of the policemen down here that might stop you for a moving
[00:57] violation or for whatever reason, they don't speak English, which may or may not be to your advantage. And like I said before, all throughout Latin America, the transit cops, sometimes aided by the military, have set up roadblocks, and they'll single you out while you're driving by and just pull you over for any old reason. And of course, they'll ask you for your driver's license and your car papers, because they'll be wanting to see if your papers match up to the car's VIN number. The VIN number is the vehicle identification number that's stamped on a little metal plate usually embedded in the lower left hand corner of your dashboard, right by the windshield. And that same VIN number is stamped in a few other places too, like under the hood, on the firewall, and on your motor. And if they don't all match, that probably means your car was stolen or there was some
[01:43] hanky-panky done with the paperwork. And the cops will also ask you for a little plastic identification card called the Tarheta de Circulacion, and they'll make sure the data on that card matches your paperwork and the numbers on your license plates mounted on the outside of your car. And that little card that Tarheta de Circulacion, which by the way everybody just calls La Circulacion, is issued by the government to every new car owner. And if you ever sell that car, you're required to hand over that little plastic identification card to the new owner. Then the new owner takes that card down to the motor vehicle department, along with the title, pays the sales taxes on the purchase, and then they issue them a brand new plastic little card, and the only difference from the old one is the change in the name of the
[02:28] new owner. And by the way, the owner could be a person or a company. And as far as expats are concerned, I almost always recommend buying a car and putting it in the name of a company. And that goes for purchasing and registering firearms too, but I'll talk about that on a later show, I promise. Now that card, which is about as big as a credit card, has the owner's name, the motor size, the kind of car and model, the VIN number, and the license plate number on it, along with some other registration numbers and data. Now if you're stopped by the police and don't have that card on you, you're in big trouble and they'll probably impound your car, unless of course you have money for a bribe. Because down here, sometimes that's the only way to cut through the red tape. Now in almost all Latin American countries, no one carries around that original Circulation Card, and if they do, they always hide it somewhere and never keep it in their glove
[03:16] compartment. Because if someone steals your car and they get the original little plastic Circulation Card in their hands, they can go down to a lawyer or the Department of Transportation and with not too much difficulty, transfer that car into another person or company's name, even if they don't have the original title. And that kind of thing is done all the time, because down here in Latin America, people just don't keep good records. Which makes it easy for lawyers and sleazebag insiders to do all kinds of manipulations, including creating paperwork that's long gone missing, and backdating it to boot. And down here, card titles and all kinds of legal papers get lost and misplaced all the time. And in general, record keeping is a huge problem. You think you don't keep good records, and you stuff all your guarantees and important
[04:01] paperwork like insurance policies in one giant sinkhole of a file cabinet, cardboard box or a drawer. Well, at least you know where it is in that file cabinet. Down here, the locals seem to lose or misplace important documents all the time. And that's why it's a good idea to keep a copy of all your important stuff down at your lawyer's office. Because there's no telling what'll happen to your important paperwork if you get caught in a hurricane, an earthquake, a flood, or you get robbed. And a lot of people I know, especially expats, keep the original Circulation Card that shows ownership of the car in a file in their lawyer's office. But didn't I just say you have to have that with you in your car at all times? So what happens when the police pull you over? Because that's the first thing they ask for. They want to see that plastic circulation to see if you're the owner or have the implied
[04:48] permission to drive it. Well it turns out it's completely legal to make a copy of that as long as your lawyer notarizes that copy and puts all these official stamps and seals and signatures on it. Now you keep that in the glove compartment of your car, and if you get in an accident or stop by the cops for any reason, you show them that. And you're completely in the clear. And it doesn't matter if you're not the name of the person on that circulation that owns the car. All that matters is that all the details on that circulation and the numbers match up to the numbers on the car you're driving. And if your car does get stolen, the thieves will only have a copy of that certified circulation that you left in the glove compartment, not the original. And that makes a big difference. And they'll need the original, not a copy like that, to transfer a stolen vehicle's title to another person's name.
[05:35] So that affords you a bit of protection at least if you get your car stolen, and if you don't drive a real high-end car like a Mercedes or a BMW, and you do happen to get it stolen. Without that original circulation, there's a decent chance that they'll abandon your car and you'll actually get it back someday, because paying the bribes to change the paperwork would be too expensive and a lot of hassle on a low-priced car. Though you might have to worry about them scrapping it out for parts. Well at least there's a lesser chance of you actually seeing your own car driving down the road with another owner and new paperwork. Which believe me, for the theft victim, is a pretty depressing experience. Now picture this. You're driving along one day and you actually see your own stolen car parked in somebody's driveway. Now don't laugh because I know some Latins and expats that that's actually happened to.
[06:22] And in most cases, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Because a lot of car thieves have an inside guy working in the government that can change your paperwork to another person's name and it's done so thoroughly that you'll have a very hard time making a case that that's actually your stolen car. And most of the time the proud new owner has no idea it was previously stolen. Now another thing that cops will look for whenever they stop you, or if you're in an accident, is that you have a certain little sticker pasted to the lower right corner of your windshield. Which means you've paid your license fee for the year. Now if you don't have that sticker, you'll be in big trouble too. And I should mention here that for cars, there's a sliding scale on paying that yearly tax and getting that sticker. Let's say for example, to make the numbers easy, you bought a brand new $10,000 car.
[07:08] Now when you buy that car, you'll have to pay the national sales tax on it, which is called EVA, like I mentioned in a previous program. And let's say that EVA is 10%. So on the day you buy that $10,000 car, you're going to pay $1,000 EVA, or 10%. And you'll get a little sticker for that year that says 2011 and you'll peel the back off and stick it on the right hand corner of your windshield. Now when the next January comes around, you'll be required to buy another sticker, this time for 2012. And you'll get charged for that next year's sticker on a sliding scale. And because your car is practically brand new yet, you'll be paying the highest rate on that scale, which could be for our example, around $300. And when next January comes around, and your car's about two years old, you'll slip aways down on that sliding scale and pay about $250 for that 2013 sticker.
[07:58] And after let's say 10 years go by and you still have that car, you'll be way down on that yearly licensing scale and you might have to pay maybe $30. And believe me, after about 10 years or so, the right hand side of your windshield starts looking like a billboard. And by the way, down here, unlike the first world, there is no law against loading up your windows with stickers. In fact, even if you have a bullet hole through your windshield, no cop's going to give you a ticket for what they call up north, obstructed vision. Because in fact, no cop or official has ever even heard of that term. So getting back to paying your car license fee every year, it's not at all like the first world where everyone, no matter what kind of car they own, pays the same rate every year to get their license plate renewal. But what about expats and expat wannabes who want to get a driver's license down here?
[08:45] Is that even possible? Now normally in most cases up in the first world, you get a driver's license from anywhere from two to five years. Now if you're down here, let's say in Paraguay, and you're driving around with a Texas driver's license, and you get pulled over, well, you're not going to have any problem at all, unless of course your license is expired. And even though 98% of the cops won't speak a word of English, they'll stare at your license for a while, even though they might never have seen one like it before, and they'll look for dates. They may only have a sixth grade education, but they're smart enough to do that. And if they don't look at a date on your license that's somewhere in the future, they're going to assume that it's expired. Then they're either going to write you a ticket, take you down to the police station and sort it out, because down there there'll be at least one guy who speaks English, or they
[09:31] might just ask you for a bribe. And even if you have a license that's completely valid, they still might ask you for a bribe. And you know if worse comes to worse, it doesn't hurt to pretend you don't know a single word of Spanish, which might actually be true. And then just hold out a 20 or a 50 and see what happens. Because believe it or not, they're usually not offended at all. And if they don't want to take it, they'll just shake their head no. They're not going to write you up and throw you in the slammer, like an Illinois State Patrol guy would if you offered him a bribe. Like I said, if worse comes to worse, just play like a dumb, pure English-speaking gringo and hold out some money. It might just save you a lot of grief, believe me. And by the way, most cops, especially if there's only one or two that pull you over, and there's nobody else around to be a witness, are ready and willing to extort some money from a foreigner.
[10:19] Because the cops know that a foreigner does not want to go down to the police station. Especially tourists who just want to get out of there and back to their partying. But personally, I recommend if all your papers are in order and you do have a valid driver's license, if you get pulled over and the cops keep giving you a hard time and you persist, eventually they're going to let you go, though you might lose 45 minutes or an hour while the cops have their little powwow, all the while hoping you'll pull out 50 or 100 bucks, so both of yous can be on your way. And I have to admit I did that a few times in the early days, especially when my Spanish sucked. But to tell you the truth, I haven't paid a bribe in years. Unless you want to call giving the cops a little junk food and Coca-Cola, a serious bribe. I just call it diplomacy. Though, I've been in a few situations where the cops have thought they could set me up
[11:05] for one. But I'll talk about that in a later show because it was rather funny. But what happens to an expat when he's down here and his first world driver's license is expired? Well, you know you can always go back up and renew it, but a lot of expats spend years and years down here and never do make it back up to the states on time to do anything like that. And the problem is, in some states up north, if you let your license lapse for too long, let's say two or three years after it expires, you have to go through that whole driver's test rigmarole again, including the written and on the road part. So if you're in middle age now, and you're not the man you used to be, it might even take you a few tries to pass that test. Well, let me tell you, there are a lot of ways you can drive legally down here, even if you don't have a valid first world driver's license or you have one that's recently expired.
[11:53] One of the easiest ways out of this dilemma is to get an international driver's license. And to get one of those, you just go on the internet and Google international driver's license. And for 50 bucks, you can get a license like that that's valid for 10 years. And it's valid in over 200 nations. And not only is it a very nice, impressive and official looking document, it's approved and sanctioned by the United Nations. Now there's only one little hitch. And though it might seem like a huge obstacle to you, it's really not at all. You see, according to the international driver's license rules, you're supposed to carry another official valid license from your own country or state. But guess what? None of the cops down in Latin America know that. So if you have an international driver's license valid for 10 years and a Texas or
[12:39] New Jersey license that's expired, I promise you that if you get pulled over down here in Latin America, the cops will give you no trouble at all. But the trick is to have a license from the first world expired or not in English. Because official documents like that printed in English always make a pretty big impression on the locals. And to save face, they always try to act as if they understand them, which of course they don't. But it doesn't really matter because the international driver's license is legal. But just one more thing on that. When you do apply for that international driver's license, you'll have to send them a copy of your own valid driver's license from Texas or wherever. So be sure to apply for one before your license expires. Or they might not issue it to you, but I kind of think they will anyway. Because I don't think there's any way in the world those international driver's license
[13:26] people are going to check with the Maine or Nevada or Oregon Department of Transportation to see if your license is valid or not. In fact, I know an expat who sent a copy of an Oregon license that was five years expired and his international driver's license came in the mail two weeks later. So there. I kind of think it's just a business to them and they want your 50 bucks. Okay so that international driver's license does work. I've had them in the past, I've used them, I've had no trouble, and I know a lot of expats who do the same thing. Now I gotta tell you, this international driver's license is a very good looking document. In fact, much more complete and official looking than most any other state or country issued driver's license. And I can't underestimate how impressed Latins are by pretty documents like that. Just go on Google and see for yourself.
[14:13] There's nothing tacky about it at all, trust me. But for those of you expats and expat wannabes who want an actual legal driver's license from the Latin country that you're living in or want to live in, well there's really only two ways to go about that. And one is to first get legal permanent residence in the country that you're living in. And that means you'll have to apply to that country's immigration office for residency and the only way you're going to ever accomplish that is to have a lawyer. Because there's so much paperwork to fill out and so many requirements, including getting police and good conduct reports from wherever you lived up in the states or in Europe. Including bank and income statements and references and church affiliations. And besides that, everything will have to be translated into Spanish. And even if you have all those ducks lined up and all your paperwork in order, it could
[15:03] take up to a year from the moment that you applied. And anywhere along the line there could be a snafu and you'll be rejected. And if you look on the internet for residency requirements for foreigners in Latin countries, you'll see that every country's rules and regulations differ a little bit. And to complicate things further, some countries will have even two or three different kind of residency programs for foreigners depending on a foreigner's status. For example, there are different requirements for foreigners who are business owners, landowners, and for people who are applying as retirees. And in all those cases, you generally have to make a pretty substantial land or real estate purchase, usually at least $200,000 or so, and or you have to have a minimum monthly income transferred into your local Latin bank account from an outside bank or investment
[15:52] company. And that's usually set at around $2,000 a month of income or more. Or you simply have to transfer down a big chunk of money and have a pretty big bank balance, usually at least $300,000 or so. Because Latin countries are not going to allow foreigners to come down here and get permanent residency unless they can show that they can support themselves or start a business that will supply enough money for them to maintain a high standard of living without taking jobs or income away from the locals. In other words, they want big contributors, not parasites. Which always makes me laugh considering the fact that every single Latin American country unofficially encourages their residents to enter the United States or Europe as illegals so that they can send back money to their family in the form of remisses and help out
[16:38] the mother country. Talk about irony. And in my experience, as an expat parasite, just kidding. The thing is, very few expats I know have actually been able to get their permanent residency on their own because they always get bogged down trying to follow those precisely spelled out rules. Instead, what usually happens when an expat wants residency is that he goes to his lawyer and asks the all-important question, how much is it going to cost? And for example, in the case of one expat friend of mine in Costa Rica, he paid his lawyer $2,000 and within a month and a half he had his permanent residency papers all in order and his national ID card. But as much as your lawyer might be able to manipulate the system down here, in most cases you have to make some kind of business or real estate investment.
[17:25] Like I said, you have to show that you have some kind of means. And all that other paperwork and all the hurdles that seem to be necessary, well it seems you don't have to worry too much about any of that stuff as long as you pay your lawyer. Or so I've heard from so many expats I know. And once you've got that residence and national ID card, it's a very simple thing to go down to the transportation department with your Texas or New Jersey driver's license, expired or not, and pay $20 or $30 and get yourself a 4 or 5 year driver's license in the Latin American country that you now happen to be a permanent resident of. But by now it should be obvious to you that by going this route just to get a driver's license it's a big pain in the ass. And that's why so many expats, especially the ones that like to fly very low under the radar, well they just go to their lawyer and say, I'd like to have a driver's license,
[18:13] what's it gonna cost me? And you know when you do it that way you know there's gonna be some palms greased, but you're gonna get an official driver's license, which is what you set out to do in the first place. Now I'm not saying at all that the lawyers down here are in the business of selling documents like driver's licenses, they're not. But they always know somebody who is. And they're glad to make a commission off of it, whether you know it or not. And what, you might ask, is the going rate for a driver's license obtained in that way? Well, it's about between $300 and $500, which of course are gringo prices. Whereas Spanish speaking locals who want an instant driver's license like that, without standing in 8 lines and going through the actual test, that is, will pay maybe $1-$200. So expats and expat wannabes, I'm not advising you to do anything illegal, I'm just giving
[19:01] you some general information about how things are done down here. And you know what, that's what I don't like about all those other expat blogs and expat organizations on the internet. They never seem to tell you what's really happening behind the closed doors of lawyers and scumbag politicians, where the real money changes hands and how things really get done. With all the payoffs and the grease, the gifts and the actual bribes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only guy out here talking about what's really happening down here. Well, at least you can count on the fact that I'll never give you the glossy, condensed traveler version of anything. Now speaking of driver's licenses, one day an expat British friend of mine showed me one of the most amazing things. He pulled out his UK driver's license, which was issued in 1994, and I just about fell
[19:49] off my chair when he showed me that the expiration date was in the year 2028. In other words, his driver's license was valid for 34 years. And naturally I thought it was fake, but it wasn't. So what that means is anyone from the UK doesn't have a worry in the world as an expat down here when it comes to driver's licenses. At least this guy didn't. Then that British expat showed me the fine print and his license. It said it was a learner's license. Which means of course he could only drive if there was a licensed driver in the car with him. Then I shook my head and said, well what good is it then? And then he told me something that nearly made me fall off my chair again. He said anyone, even a non-resident, can go to the UK and get a learner's license by simply completing a short written test, which you could download ahead of time on the internet.
[20:38] And then he said the same thing goes for all the other countries in Europe, including English speaking countries like New Zealand and Australia. Anyone, even non-residents, can go down and get a learner's permit, which looks like an official regular license, except somewhere on it it says learner. Now here's the great thing about getting a first world learner's permit. Down in Latin America, there's no such thing as a learner's driver's license and a regular driver's license. They only have a driver's license. So if you're ever stopped by the police down here, if you show them your first world learner's permit, they will accept it unconditionally as a valid first world driver's license and send you on your way. So for all you expats and expat wannabes out there, if for some reason your Texas or New
[21:23] Jersey driver's license expires and you want to do some driving around in Latin America without so much as a hassle, pick just about any English speaking country, except for the United States that is, and get yourself a temporary driver's license, often called a learner's permit. And you'll be able to go down to the driver's testing station and get one within an hour after passing a simple written test. And since my British expat friend told me about this loophole, I've done a little investigation on temporary driver's licenses myself. I found nowadays that they last anywhere from 6 months to 10 years depending on the country you get it in. For example, if you get yours in Australia, it expires in 5 years. But the nice thing is, if your temporary driver's license expires, you can walk right back into the driver's testing station, take the written test again and get it renewed for another
[22:13] 5 years. Now another thing I found out, since my British friend showed me his license, the one that expires in 34 years, well, they don't do that anymore in England. In fact, another British expat I ran into told me that his learner's permit expired after 10 years. And I hear these days they've shortened it to 2 or 3 years. But it really doesn't matter, because like I said, you can apply again and again and keep getting them. And yes, foreigners in the UK and other English speaking countries can get them as long as they have a local postal address, because sometimes they send a license out by mail a few days later. And just to keep things a little more interesting, in fact, I was in the UK a few years ago, and I went down and got my provisional license, and it was for 10 years. And I still have it, and down here in Latin America, it works like a charm.
[22:59] And I've shown it to many a cop, and they just wave me right through. And sticking on the topic of driver's licenses down here, well, believe it or not, a lot of countries down here don't even have a formal on-the-road driver's test. They just have a very short written test and an eye exam. And for countries down here that do have actual on-the-road exams, most of those exams take place outside the driver's testing station, in a parking lot, and not actually on a road where you'd have to confront real cars and drivers. In the parking lot, they have a few rows of orange cones set up, and you have to do some weaving around them, then angle and parallel park without hitting them. And being that Latin America is the land of the macho man, I was told by one of the driving instructors at one of the private driving schools down here, that if you hit one of
[23:46] those cones in the parking lot during your driving test, you fail, unless of course you're a somewhat attractive young lady. But it turns out that if you have a little bit of money, you don't even have to take a driver's test to get your license. Because most of the private driving schools down here can arrange for you to get your license for a fee. And if you read between the lines on that, that for an extra 50 to 100 bucks, you don't have to stand in line for 4 to 6 hours at the driver's testing station, waiting for your turn to take the test, and then waiting again for a few hours for the results. Now these private driving schools that I'm talking about do exist down here, but only people in the middle classes and up can afford them. And though by first world standards, they're absolutely dirt cheap, still only the higher classes of people use their services. And most of those people have the means to buy a license, instead of going the traditional
[24:35] cheap, slow and sweaty route of taking the test and wasting their day, standing in sweaty lines with masses of low class people. That's how the wealthier classes look at it anyway. And you might find it interesting to note that there's been quite a few scandals down here lately involving these private driving schools, and there's been more than one kind of scandal. The obvious one of course, involving the outright buying of driver's licenses. And then they found that the owners of some of these driver's ed companies have to pay kickbacks to the bosses in the Department of Transportation in order to maintain their legal standing as certified driver's testing schools. But the biggest scandal involving these driver's ed companies was when it was found that police chiefs and heads of the Department of Transportation actually owned some of these driver's ed companies
[25:23] clandestinely in the names of their relatives, wives and friends. Little conflict of interest there, don't you think? But this is the third world, and that's the way they do things down here. And as far as learning to drive a car down here, like I said before, they do have these driver's ed schools. But only 5 or 10% of the population has the money to afford that kind of private instruction. And as for the rest of the population, they learn by driving along with their mother or their father or sister or brother. But like I said down here, they don't have temporary licenses or temporary learning permits. So in fact, people learning to drive are driving illegally, since obviously they don't have a license yet. So not surprisingly, the police never do anything about it. So if you're pulled over and you're learning to drive, and there's a licensed driver sitting
[26:08] next to you, the police will just wave you on through. Because that or a driving school is the only way you learn how to drive. And since I'm on this subject, I have to warn you that when you are driving, you'll notice that more than half the roads don't have a line painted down the center, in other words, no center line. Which is really quite dangerous especially at night. So be aware of that. And also note that when there is a center line, and it's a broken line, not solid, that means you can pass if you're able. And if it's a solid line, you're not supposed to pass, right? Wrong. You're in Latin America and people pass anywhere, anytime, no matter if there's a broken line, a solid line, or no line at all. And if you happen to pass someone in a no-passing zone and get away with it, even if it's on
[26:54] a treacherous curve, no policeman will ever pull you over for breaking that law. Because the policemen routinely do it themselves. And not only that, a good 9 out of 10 Latin drivers, including the cops, don't have the faintest idea that a solid center line means no passing. In fact, the average Latin person is completely ignorant of road signs and road safety in general. Which is why in Latin America, there are 4 times as many accidents per number of cars than in the first world. Not to mention the fact that only about 20% of Latins wear seatbelts. And most of them only wear them because that damn warning buzzer won't go off until they buckle up. You've been listening to The Expat Files, living in Latin America. And don't forget you can email me on anything at all about Latin America.
[27:44] The Expat Files at gmail.com. That's theexpatfiles at gmail.com. See you next time. Nos vemos.