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Post by Jaga on Jan 11, 2006 12:08:06 GMT -7
what is this particular (?) driving licence plate, is it for mafias or for the government?
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Pawian
European
Have you seen my frog?
Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Jan 11, 2006 13:54:49 GMT -7
I've got 2 things to say about drink-driving in rural Poland: i) the police always sit outside wedding parties until they are paid off with vodka (I know, believe me!) ii) my wife's uncle was unlucky when stopped for drunk driving - the policeman wanted a 500 zlot bribe, but he didn't have it on him Yes, it could have happened. Some policemen join road units in order to take bribes. (There is a true story about certain policeman who applied to his boss to let him move to a road unit. He justified his request with "a difficult financial situation." ha ha ha ha ha ha ha) I hope such bribe incidents will happen less often. These thousands of drunken drivers are stopped in Poland every year for other reasons than not having enough money to grease the policeman`s hand.
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Yanc
Full Pole
Posts: 337
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Post by Yanc on Jan 11, 2006 16:41:27 GMT -7
Jaga, it is not about a driving license, but registration plates. It is for government probably, even in Russia mafia has not enough power. In USSR there were a special lanes in the street for Communistic Party VIPs travelling through the city.
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Post by Eric on Jan 12, 2006 7:38:46 GMT -7
what is this particular (?) driving licence, is it for mafias or for the government? For example, if the first letter and last two letters are "O", then it's considered one of the "very special" license plates. Also, if your plate is blue instead of white, you also get these "privileges".
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Post by Eric on Jan 12, 2006 7:39:38 GMT -7
Jaga, it is not about a driving license, but registration plates. It is for government probably, even in Russia mafia has not enough power. In USSR there were a special lanes in the street for Communistic Party VIPs travelling through the city. Even today in Russia, streets will be cleared of traffic well in advance if there will be a government motorcade passing through. Sometimes they close the sidewalks, too.
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Post by leslie on Jan 12, 2006 9:39:06 GMT -7
A word of advice - if you ever come to UK and drive and have more than a pint and a half of beer and are stopped by the police and breathalysed - unless it is to take out your driving documents, DO NOT OPEN YOUR WALLET AND SHOW THE POLICE MONEY - if they even suspect that you are going to offer money, straight into the cells you go!! Leslie
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Pawian
European
Have you seen my frog?
Posts: 3,266
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Post by Pawian on Jan 13, 2006 14:37:47 GMT -7
A word of advice - if you ever come to UK and drive and have more than a pint and a half of beer and are stopped by the police and breathalysed - unless it is to take out your driving documents, DO NOT OPEN YOUR WALLET AND SHOW THE POLICE MONEY - if they even suspect that you are going to offer money, straight into the cells you go!! Leslie Was there ever such a period in British history that cops took bribes? What can you say about it? PS. Why? I read "Godfather" by Mario Puzo. He writes about New York cops in 1940s. They cheerfully accepted little bribes for closing an eye to minor things, e.g. illegal gambling, parking, drinking etc. Today American cops don`t take bribes (or am I wrong?). So, something has changed. Did such a change also take place in Britain or it never did because it didn`t have to?
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forza
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 514
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Post by forza on Jan 14, 2006 2:48:56 GMT -7
On a humorous note - this is from today's news: A Polish nun who caused two accidents while driving under the influence of alcohol informed on a police officer who asked for a bribe to cover up her mishaps, prosecutors said on Thursday. (...) The Benedictine nun caused two accidents, the first in 2004, when driving a tractor towing a snowplough, she hit a car parked at the entrance of her convent in the southwestern town of Krzeszow. A year later, her car ended up in a ditch after she drove at high speed. Anxious to avoid scandal and particularly worried that her convent would find out, the nun went for help to a friend who was a police officer. <more> Full story here
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Post by leslie on Jan 14, 2006 3:29:17 GMT -7
Pawi I am sure that in the days long ago what were equivalent to the Police did take bribes - everybody took them in those medieval days. But as far as I know, and I was NOT around in the mid 19th century when real Police came into being, bribing was not a thing publicly aired about the police. I am sure that there would be cases, but I can't remember any being publicised and I would be most surprised if it was common practice. They weren't saints so there would be some but not as blatant and illegal as the stories about them in Poland and Russia. I know that if the occasion arose, I would not take the chance of having double charges. Leslie the Angel
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Post by kaima on Jan 14, 2006 11:42:02 GMT -7
Speaking of bribery, I have been in engineering and construction all of my career and have never witnessed bribery. Yet there was a movement last year to have engineers world wide take pledges to fight bribery. I have worked in the US, Germany and former Soviet Union and never solicited or was soliceted for a bribe.
I only wanted to bribe a border guard once when someone forgot a passport, but we worked it out. The gurad left no chance to offer the bribe.
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Jan 14, 2006 19:32:28 GMT -7
Speaking of bribes,
in my very naive youth, the very first time that I was stopped by a traffic cop for speeding (who me? driving too fast??) I had no idea what to do. the cop came up to the driver's side window, etc. etc. At one point I said to him "Do I have to pay the fine now?" (really, I had no idea ...)
The cop leaped back as though he had been shot - wow - guess he thought I was trying to offer a bribe - he said "NO!!" I got the message.
Then there was the time I was stopped for speeding but the cop was more interested in my rotary-engine Mazda and got so distracted by the car that he forgot why he had stopped me. he he he. I did not remind him.
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forza
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 514
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Post by forza on Jan 15, 2006 6:09:34 GMT -7
These are my last 3 corruption incidents in Poland: I was visiting a friend in a small town near Poznan and next day we were both catching a morning train to Poznan (30 min ride). Since we were late on the station we had to buy tickets on the train. Here my friend showed her experience in bribery handling quickly a 10 PLZ bill to the train conductor. She said every morning about 5 locals from her town pay half price for their commute to Poznan (it's been going on forever she said) My cable guy offered me to switch from my "regular" cable service to "full" for just 20 PLZ one time fee. He said he would leave me his cell phone number in case someone else was ever on his route and messed with the cable box and switched it back. My unemployed neighbor reflected on human's good heart recalling how she got a special receipt from a shoe store without buying anything. Now she would claim a refund from welfare agency; she would claim she had bought shoes for her kids.
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Post by rdywenur on Jan 15, 2006 10:02:20 GMT -7
As long as there are human beings there will always be corruption. It is part of human nature. I use to live in a town in downstate NY where the script of the "Sopranos" was probably written. (mafia city) I know and knew first hand of much of these things happening. So to this day I have not much respect for "law".
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Post by pieter on Jan 15, 2006 15:57:31 GMT -7
Is much of the drunk driving in Poland done by teenagers, or is it mainly an adult problem? I don't know the statistics for the U.S., but I'd guess that a significant portion of drunk-driving fatal car accidents here are committed by teenagers. In 1977 I lost my Polish grandfather (Djadek), Jozef Kotowicz when he was killed in an accident with a drunken driver in Pozñan. He was run over at an pedestrian crossing. The drunken driver was taken his drivers liscence and was sentenced life long in prison. It was a great shock to my grandmother, mother and my aunt in Chicago.
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Post by varsovian on Jan 16, 2006 5:28:21 GMT -7
Bribing the police in the UK happens in different ways. It is small in terms of numbers of officers involved and usually involves drugs and lots of money.
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