Traffic Stop

In Johannesburg, or South Africa for that matter, a traffic stop sometimes is more than it seems.

Sometimes you get pulled over by a Policeman, and he talks you through it all and sends you on your way with a ticket or a warning.  Sometimes, a Policeman will pull you over and ask to be compensated appropriately for his work so you don't get a ticket or arrested.  Sometimes, a Policeman that pulls you over isn't actually a Policeman, but someone with a blue flashing light on his vehicle.  Not a good one to have.

The question then becomes, what do you do when you see a blue light in your rear view mirror?  The government has put out notices that if you feel the person isn't a police officer, you don't have to pull over.  You just drive to the nearest police station to deal with the issue there.  (Again, this is official government notice.)

So Saturday night, Lovely English Lass and I went to a wedding.  Lovely experience, great venue, and a good night was had, sans kids.  We did have to leave early, though, to make sure the kids got to bed and to relieve the babysitter.

Imagine my surprise when we come up to a checkpoint on the road.  There were local and national police around, and they were stopping all the cars.  As I pulled up, I prepared my speech, but was cut off by the officer, who politely asked, "Sir, have you had anything to drink within the last 24 hours?"

Well of course I had.  I was at a wedding and they had a champagne toast.  But, being a good boy, if somewhat back-slidden Baptist on the idea of alcohol, I only had one glass 2 hours prior to driving.  When I informed the officer, he asked me to pull the car to the side of the road. He came over, took my Diplomatic ID and asked me to follow him to a van which was on the other side of the road.  I had handed LEL my phone to call the Regional Security Officer, but it's not really intuitive to unlock, so she called his wife on her phone.  Luckily he answered it and talked her through the situation.

Meanwhile I was in a line of people waiting to blow into a breathalyzer.  I was handed a straw in a wrapper and told to wait in line with everyone else.  After 5 minutes, which felt like 30, I reached the front.  Another officer took my straw, placed it on the breathalyzer, and told me to blow until he said stop.  Now, I'd been watching these people in front of me do it for 5 minutes, and they always had to blow for at least 10 seconds.  So, I took a deep breath and blew into the breathalyzer.  2 seconds later the guy tells me to stop, he's good.  (Turns out playing tuba and soccer really helps develop strong lungs.)  After being complimented on my lung power by the officer, I was released with a 0.0 BAC.  I was handed my id, and told to drive safely.

Granted my experience wasn't exceptional.  Heck, in Northern Virginia this happens almost every Friday night.  But after hearing the tales of police corruption and the fake officers, you can understand being a bit wary of anyone.  However, gotta say I'm happy that they are going after drunk drivers. If they focus on the crimes, and make the police look legit like they're helping, it's a move in the right direction.  It gives me hope that one day someone in Jozi will see the blue lights in their mirror and won't think they're about to be shook down or robbed.  Progress starts with one step.