I knew I'd have a problem with motorcycles

[jeff1234]

My friend was crossing the street to her office 3 years ago.
She is still having surgery to repair the damage from the motorcycle that ran her down.

 

[ElQueso]

Sounds as though the police behaved very reasonably.

Yeah, second time in an accident, both not my fault, but the police were professional and helpful to both sides. They seem to be really good at responding to traffic incidents.

I've seen PFA cops ignore calls for help on the street a couple of times, watching the thieves run off and later go up to the person to talk to them. I once saw a guy come running around the corner from my apartment screaming for help, fell to curb right across from my apartment, about 10 meters from a PFA guard shack. The guard sauntered out of his shack, walked over to the guy and prodded him with his foot, then went back to his shack a few minutes later, left the guy sitting there.

So I take their traffic professionalism with a grain of salt, but yeah, my experience has been good so far.

 

[Iznogud]

People here refuse to understand the sad truth. The cops you see on the streets are mostly posted there to guard a building or a specific person living inside of it. They're not allowed to get involved in matters that do not convern that specific task. Otherwise they get shitcanned. They do not work for you or are there to protect you. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that.

The guard you mention is there to cover the entrance to the ministry's parking lot and whatever weird stuff they keep in those containers. You could get raped and murdered in front of him, but on the other side of the street that he would probably not lift a finger. They do not have to like it but they have to do it.
Also, there are so many cameras on the building at the corner of Basavilbaso (the one with round the clock security) that if the guy takes one step too many that will be reported as well.

 

[nicoenarg]

ElQueso, dude, sorry to hear about your experience. You don't seem to be having the best of times on the roads of this city.

 

[ElQueso]

People here refuse to understand the sad truth. The cops you see on the streets are mostly posted there to guard a building or a specific person living inside of it. They're not allowed to get involved in matters that do not convern that specific task. Otherwise they get shitcanned. They do not work for you or are there to protect you. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that.

The guard you mention is there to cover the entrance to the ministry's parking lot and whatever weird stuff they keep in those containers. You could get raped and murdered in front of him, but on the other side of the street that he would probably not lift a finger. They do not have to like it but they have to do it.
Also, there are so many cameras on the building at the corner of Basavilbaso (the one with round the clock security) that if the guy takes one step too many that will be reported as well.

I realized, of course, that cops posted where they were supposed to be shouldn't leave their post. I guess I just never realized the depth to which the cops did not have the power to act in the public welfare in those instances.

I know a cop (detective, semi-retired), who is very good friends with a number of my friends, but only an acquaintance to me. I don't like to question him about his work, for a number of reasons, and have only listened to stories he had to tell when a couple of us are out getting drinks or something. All I can say is his stories are amazing and I'll leave it at that. I just never heard him talk about the depth to which the guys and gals are fixed to their posts.

I had a funny story about the cops at that guard shack, when I moved in here.

I was coming in from the suburbs, the only place since I had lived in BA where I'd had a long term contract and I had a household full of stuff to move. I came down the day before and scouted out the area to see where the movers were going to be able to park. It was Friday, we were moving first thing Saturday morning. I didn't trust the movers to get it right, or even do it, so I was taking care of that myself. Haha.

I told the cop in the guard shack what I was going to do and asked if it was OK to park along the street on Saturdays. The street there is reserved for French Consulate officials, but I figured Saturday might be OK. The cop said sure, no problem, come down in the morning and I'd be able to unload everything right there.

See, I didn't realize that the cop was there only to guard the parking lot (and yeah, what the hell is in those containers? They haven't been moved or opened since I've been here, afaik). I saw the French consulate building, I knew the Ministry building and its parking lot was there. There is another guard shack inside the parking lot gates, and a cop was stationed there, so I thought the guy I talked to in the outer shack had some duty related to the surrounding street.

To cover as many bases as I felt necessary, I also talked to the portero of my building, who I had only met a couple of times while apartment hunting and that didn't count. I came to find out later that he was about to retie in a couple of months, didn't give much of a damn about anything, and was quite pesado in his attitude.

I went in, introduced myself, and told him what I was up to. He told me sure, no problem, as well. Too affirmative answers from people that would seem to know, I felt reasonably secure that at least parking the truck in the morning wouldn't be a huge problem. I didn't know who else to ask anyway.

I come down in the morning and the street is full of consulate cars. I walk up to the cop and tell her what I was doing and about my conversation with her fellow cop the previous say and she laughs and says "we don't have anything to do with the street, only the parking lot. My compañero was pulling your leg."

Welcome to the neighborhood. Heh.

 

[ElQueso]

ElQueso, dude, sorry to hear about your experience. You don't seem to be having the best of times on the roads of this city.

Thanks dude.

Well, I drive a lot. It's bound to happen. Beyond money reasons, I don't particularly want a nice car here for that reason. I'd rather spend my money on something else or save it.

In my opinion, it's better to drive a little like they do here rather than try to adhere to rules that I knew in the US. There is a certain flow to the traffic, a bit anarchic to be sure, but in most cases once you understand how they are driving, you have to fit in.

I know a guy, an expat, who is one of the worst drivers I know of here. He always has a new, expensive-model car to drive (usually a VW - seems like he trades them in every year or something, I don't know). He's terrified of taking damage to his car. He drives in the right lane, 30-40 kph, gripping his steering wheel so tight his knuckles are white. Hesitates all the time. Won't pull on to a street unless there's a block of clearance from oncoming traffic. He's at the constant mercy of every taxi and bus on the road, and interfering with their traffic pattern.

He's had two outright wrecks that I know of, don't remember details, but body damage. One of them involved a bus trying to get over to let off passengers. He's had his left sport mirror taken off twice.

I guess he's not doing too much worse than me overall - I've now been involved in two wrecks, but very minor damage to my car in both cases.

It will happen at some point. Get an older car, in good shape but utilitarian, and it won't hurt as much when it does. Being as confident and as controlled a driver as you can be and being successful about reading the minds of other drivers (after a while, you just KNOW that guy's going to do that!) helps to minimize the consequences of when it does happen.