You sent me to Google for word definition. (mordida).
I like to think that, even though I am no longer in the classroom, I am still capable of educating some people on a daily basis. And, anyone who dares to drive in Mexico needs to be aware of the expectation of The Mordida in the event of being stopped by their police.
Note: You should also avoid imbibing alcohol in Mexico!
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-state-department-warns-travelers-of-tainted-alcohol-at-mexico-resorts/ar-AAoSAgZ?OCID=ansmsnnews11
3 Likes
I donât go places that have corruption that widespread.
Aw, câmon, @the_same_mountainbik, Washington DC is a wonderful place to visit!
1 Like
Yup, as long as you donât stray too far from the mall. The crime rate there is out of control⊠and that isnât even including the politicians!! 
2 Likes
Crime is a big problem in almost any big city. There are a lot of areas in DC that are safe.
Fair enough.
Hereâs a link to D.C.'s stats.
The table offers a complete overview of all reported annual crimes in Washington, DC. The total number of reported crimes in Washington, DC is shown and for comparison purposes, each crime is also displayed based on the number of crimes per 100,000 people. The crimes are also broken down into two categories; violent crimes and property crimes. The table shows that the overall Washington, DC crime rate is 100% higher than the national average. Looking at violent crime specifically, Washington, DC has a violent crime rate that is 223% higher than the national average. For property crime, Washington, DC is 82% higher than the national average
I believe, Hyundai axed their own foot. They are building an upscale brand as Genesis. If I read right, Genesis is an upscale version of Azera. So if I am in the market to get Azera, why not put few figurative pennies more and get Genesis instead? IMO, they should have killed Azera a couple of years ago.
No, the Azera was actually an upgraded, slightly larger version of the FWD Sonata. My brother has an Azera and he really likes it, but he has always been puzzled by the fact that Hyundai never bothered to advertise the Azera to any significant extent. Very little advertising=very little public awareness of a vehicle=very low sales figures.
The Genesisâwhich is built on a totally different chassis, and which is RWDâbears little mechanical resemblance to either the Sonata or the Azera, and was designed to compete with Mercedes and BMW sedans.
That doesnât have an impact on what I said. Click on the Neighborhoods tab and look at the map. The east side, especially east of the Anacostia River, is a low income, high crime area. The west side is where most of the embassies are along with expensive houses. Crime exists, as it does everywhere, but it is from visitors doing their dirty work and leaving. There are also decent neighborhoods in the less desirable areas on the map. I know people that live in the Capitol Hill area, and itâs nice. You can see Capitol Hill on the map.
More news from Cadillac: Goodbye XTS, ATS and CTS, hello CT5
Here is what I saw about sedans vs. hatchbacks in SMALL CARS. This may be different with buyers of larger and more expensive vehicles.
I purchased the hatchback of the Mitsubishi Mirage. This was a car that many dislike for its simple cheap nature but it seems to be working well for me with quite a few miles as it has for others who actually bought the car. This car was a gamble in the US market for the struggling Mitsubishi and it actually sold much better than expected. Anyway, they released a sedan model for the 2017 model year as US buyers prefer sedans over hatchbacks according to their studies. I personally think a hatchback is more useful and looks better in this type of car. I prefer the hatchback Versa and Yaris as well in terms of looks. The new Mirage G4 isnât a bad looking car but I much prefer the hatch.
Then there is the old Geo Metro that I came from before. They came out with a sedan model based on preferences of US buyers towards the end of the run of that car. I think that the hatchback version are much better looking. The sedan just looks like a downsized cheapened Cavalier from the time. I donât like the way they look at all. The white ones just look terrible if you ask me. I know many donât like the hatchback versions of the Geo Metro either. Such a basic simple car isnât for everyone. I personally like the looks of the hatchback.
I have been driving a 1998 Lincoln Continental for 15 years. Always wished lincoln would come out with a new one. Well, they did this year. I looked at one but i couldnât fit into it. With the newer aerodynamic roofline I cannot fit my 6â5" frame into the car. I looked at other sedans. Again, with the aerodynamic roofline, there is no sedan anywhere that I can comfortably get into and out of. Except for one. The Chrysler 300 is plenty big enough. So I bought one of those.
For the past 10 years or so weâve been swamped with so many choices of different body styles and power options that the market is just flooded. For manufacturers it must be very complicated to keep a workable inventory of units without running into overstocks or shortages. I canât even imagine how complicated it must be to make and ship everything around the country.
Beginning with the spread of the mini-van about 1980 or so weâve been going away from sedans, and people have decided to love trucks more. Some of that was driven by federal safety and emission rules that made cars more expensive to manufacture than trucks, some came out of tax laws that permit different treatment of vehicles over 6,000 pounds, and some came from the reality that it is easier to get in and out of a more upright vehicle, sitting upright is easier on the back, and loading the kids and the groceries into a small or mid size SUV or mini-van is just much easier. It all adds up, and sedans are losing market share for good reason.
Thank you. I had no info on this. To be honest, so far I have seen only one Azera that is in our development. I do not remember having seen Azera on the road. Lately, have been noticing a lot of Genesis though.
Mordida, or The Bite, in Mexico. My brother-in-law is one of the more important lawyers in Mexico, mostly based on his teaching law many years. He thinks the Mexican system is superior and when he explained it, it made sense to me.
He said in the US, if you drive too fast, you put pedestrians and kids at risk. The police stop you and you must pay a fine, a big fine, and it goes on your insurance record. You learn not to speed so the pedestrians are safe. The money you pay goes to the state and the government pays the cops who stopped you.
In Mexico, he said, we donât think the government should have to pay cops to teach you not to drive too fast. So, when you put pedestrians and others at risk, the cop who isnât paid very much by the government, stops you and you pay him the money. No insurance issues. And, you still learn not to put pedestrians at risk.
I paid once. It was not deliberate speeding. I carelessly failed to brake soon enough coming off the high speed bypass of Monterrey, and they were sitting with a hand held radar. I was still doing 42 in a 30 mph zone as I came around the corner. I screwed up and I paid. I didnât have to pay. If I had not wanted to pay, they would take my passport and driverâs license and turn it in at the central office in downtown Monterrey. Maybe.
It worked. I am very careful about posted speed limits now.
As I have written I am much more afraid of American cops than Mexican ones. I have been âfalse stoppedâ twice on US highways. Once in MS and once in KY. In Mexico, they want maybe $20 or $100 if you are a tourist. In the US, they want to confiscate your car.
That is actually a fairly good attempt at legitimizing extortion on the part of the Mexican police. I guess that you could also argue that this is a much more efficient system than in The US, because the cop also acts as both the prosecutor and the judge. 
And, of course, that leads to the inevitable question:
How many foreigners who are driving luxury cars in Mexico are stopped by the local gendarmes on spurious charges, in order to extract the traditional mordida from those folks?
4 Likes
VERY well written, and I agree.
When police corruption becomes accepted as a legitimate law enforcement system, justice becomes random. The wrongly accused have no hope. The penalty might be a cop cleaning your wallet out, but it might easily become disappearing forever into some prison that doesnât officially exist if you donât have enough cash to placate the cop.
Sorry, Irlandes, but I cannot agree with your brother-in-law. There are many regimes in the world where the system you describe is rampant, and none of them are in places Iâd want to live.
3 Likes
Thatâs Mexico. We donât have that here!
We donât have that kind harassment of foreigners here in the states! We have some police who stop our own U.S citizens for some suspicious activities, like DWB (driving while black). 
CSA
Youâre right, @common_sense_answer. We harass foreigners for different things, like just being here.