After two brushes with corrupt cops and twenty-seven dollars poorer, we've finally figured out how to avoid highway extortion.Just call the cops on their bluff!
We ran into a couple opportunistic cops in northern Nicaragua and on our way back through Honduras. It always starts the same...
"You've broken the law, we're going to have to take your licence and impound your car because the bank where you would pay this ticket is closed."
It just so happens that we've broken the same law the last two times we've heard this spiel...lack of a fire extinguisher and reflective triangles in our car.
The act is the same every time. They try to pull the good cop vs bad cop routine. One guy breaks the news that he's going to write you the ticket, take your license, and impound your car while the other gives you the option to pay the ticket on the spot and be on your way.
We've discovered that if you just tell the cops you'll take the ticket and that you have plenty of time to deal with the bank it takes a bit of steam out of their act.
Yes, it does take a while to get them to cave in, but the last two times we've stuck to our guns and haven't gotten a ticket or had to pay the cops. Pretty sweet...hopefully, this works the rest of the way home.
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