I was recently headed north of Lima for a little day trip outside the city when my friend driving the car suddenly slammed on his brakes when there were no cars around. I asked him what the problem was and he said that the video cameras that they set up to take pictures of speeders had just caught him and he recently received a ticket in the mail for doing 50 kph in a 45 kph zone. I was really surprised because I had never noticed that there were even cameras set up around the city. I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea. Now I know that this already exists in the US and I am sure in lots of other countries, but it works even better in Peru. In Lima, the traffic is horrible. No one respects traffic laws. I once went backwards on an onramp to the freeway because the taxista changed his mind on the route he wanted to take. Just the other night I was coming home from Miraflores and one side of a very busy street was closed, so the cab driver went about 1/4 mile down the wrong side of the street. Sure there were detours signs everywhere directing him the other way, but that was too much of a hassle. The thing that surprised me the most was that no one honked. People honk at everything here, but not when someone is cutting you off or driving the wrong way down the road, but rather when you are stuck in stopped traffic.
No one has any respect for the traffic laws, lanes, or lights. Why should they? Everyone has to look out for themselves and if you can run that red light and you don't have to wait another 3 minutes for it to turn green, go for it. If you happen to get caught by a police officer, go ahead and 'resolve' the problem right then and there. No paper work involved. I luckily have never had to do this, but I have seen it done. The going rate is from 10-50 soles ($3.40- $17) for speeding, running lights, drunk driving... I can't really blame the cops for taking bribes, they can easily double their salary.
With the cameras set up, there is no option for bribes. You are sent the ticket in the mail with a picture and it is already done. If the government can then take the money that is made off the tickets and start paying the police force more, then maybe they will be less encouraged to take bribes and start giving out more tickets, which, in return, will make more people respect the traffic laws. Now I know that is maybe too idealistic, but I do feel like it is a start to a huge problem.
I have only been put in an uncomfortable situation where someone expected a payment that I felt was not merited. This person harassed me constantly to meet this contact that he had, a potential supplier. He called and emailed me nonstop until I finally agreed to meet his contact. At the end of the meeting when we were going our separate ways, he looked at me and asked how much I was going to give him. The interesting thing is that on the way to the meeting we were having a discussion about how, when making contacts, the seller has to pay for the contact and never the buyer, so I figured that this was one of those cases. I had no idea what he was expecting, so I asked him very straight forward what he wanted. He didn't give me a number and said that what ever I thought was appropriate, so I have him 10 soles for his cab ride back to his office.
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