Driving Around Honduras Part 9

There was a lot of construction going on around Siguatepeque. One area, completely stops traffic one way at a time for 30 minutes. It doesn't matter if no cars are coming or not, if the 30 min isn't up, you wait and wait some more. We got stopped about 3 times that week, where you just turn off your engine and wait. The local peddles take advantage of all the stopped cars to sell anything and everything. Here is one man selling something homemade.

Another funny thing about Honduras is their driving "rules." It was no doubt the most crazy driving I've ever experienced!! I imagine New York City taxi drivers might feel at home there, but that is about it. It is totally okay to pile people standing in back of a pickup truck.....it is okay that no children are in car seats....it was okay that for the week, because we had no larger transportation, that the Patterson's and the Konsavages drove everywhere by putting 18 people into an 8 passenger Expedition....but under no circumstances can you talk on the cell phone while driving. Haha.....their laws aren't consistent.

Here is a picture of what we drove behind on the way to the airport. There were about 6-7 men in the back of this little Police vehicle. At least 2 were in handcuffs. Not typically what we see roaming the back roads of Kentucky.

Police didn't seem to do much more in Honduras that pull cars over to make sure their licenses and registrations were up to date, hoping they could give a ticket for not having the required documents. I understand that if they try to give a ticket, it is much easier to "bribe them" with about $50. While I hear some police aren't crooked...most are.
2 weeks before we arrived, Mark P along with a bunch of church friends were robbed right in the church during a meeting. When asked for money and jewelry, he was reaching into his pocket, and they thought he might have a gun, so they put one to his head....They left with some money and jewelry. They didn't call the police because there is no reason to...they wouldn't have done anything anyway.
So be thankful that your town has police that respond and care about the law and justice!!! It's not like that all over the world!