Hi People, a bit of reassurance for those who wish to confront the (alleged) trials, tribulations and life threatening situations to be met on Ruta 14. Over the last 8 years I have ridden the section of R.14 from Entre Rios to Iguazu and back again 4 times between 2004 and last month. I like it because the scenery gets really nice the further north you get, there are some very cheap, very good hotels on the way and the bird life especially in the morning is wonderful. Each time I have been stopped by the chicos en azul at the same place. Thanks to the HUBB I was forewarned of the presence of these pernicious policemen and made sure that when on the 'panhandle' I kept to the speed limits and more importantly had current insurance and a temporary import certificate. I smile, say 'buenos whatever' and then 'no hablo spanish', more of a statement of fact for me than a cunning plan, whilst holding out my paperwork. So far it has worked and after a short chat in 'Spanglish' I have been sent on my way. Anyone going that way feel free to use my template and stay cool. Ride safe.:mchappy:

I passed today with no control.
NO POLICE CONTROL from Quebec ( September 2011) to Concordia in Argentina (June 2012) !!!! ( 16 countries )
I may be in luck !!!! :mchappy:
christian

Corruption worse than ever
 

I have been travelling in South America quite a while.
Argentina is definately getting worse. I travelled from Santiago to Buenos Aires yesterday. I was stopped 6 times in Argentina and 4 of those asked for money.
My Spanish becomes "no entende" and lots of smiles.
The 341 cops are a joke, the locals pay just to save trouble, as everyone knows everone elses business.
But in the last 5 years I have noticed a growth industry in this situation.
Will let you know what happens on the way back to Santiago.
The_Gypsy

Hi
I just got nailed by the "boys in blue" at Corrientes.

There is a Police booth just as you leave town (before the bridge to Resistencia). I was waved to the side. Lots of "no entiendo etc" but to no avail. They started off with the bizarre fine of 100 litres of fuel (which would be about £100), this then got reduced to Ps425. The guy was desperate to "not" write the ticket. After 40 mins I just couldn't be bothered to fight it any more. I put my hand in my pocket with about Ps120 and said that's all i have got. That was good enough for him and I went.

i did take some photos of the two Coppers at one point and they nearly went balistic!

Sorry to give in as I know it makes it harder for the next guy passing through.

What I will say that this is the first time in 10 months around the whole of South America so i suppose I should count myself lucky

BTW watch your speed in and around Crodoba - they are strict (and not crooked by all accounts).

Ruta 14, Buenos Aires -Misiones(Cataratas del Iguazu) -
 

Hola a todos, lamentablemente la policia de Entre Rios, por donde pasa la 14 es muy corrupta, siempre inventan algo
exceso de Equipaje
Alta velocidad
Manejo imprudente
etc, etc.

Tengan cuidado los que pueden actuar sobre la autovia, son los moviles policiales "camineros" con los laterales pintados a cuadros y los agentes de verde "gendarmeria", estos ultimos menos corruptos....
Cuidado con los moviles policiales "blancos", son los de los policias de los pueblos de la zona, que se instalan en la ruta y desvios sin autorizacion de los superiores, para sacar dinero o electronicos.(son los mas peligrosos)
Lo mejor es asustarlo simulando la grabacion "oculta" de la conversacion con un celular
Nunca apartarse de la autovia, si lo hacen de dia y acompañados y solo a la ciudad de "concepcion"
Varios lugares pueden ser evitados, por los caminos rurales y una ronda de unos 7 KM , ver el Google Map.
De ultima traer algun billete extranjero falso, los brutos, no saben distinguir....
Lamentablemente yo vivo en la zona....
Estoy harto de lo que le hacen a los amigos viajeros.....
cualquier consulta a disposicion, no todos los argentinos somos iguales

Delbert
Exactly the same happend to me, police was saying I was driving my bike in the wrong lane, (edit saw today in another town the sign forbidden for motocycletta's) So yep I made an offence.
But threathening me with a trip into town and it would cost 5 hours and 100 pesos and all was on camera "nothing could be done" though 200 Pesos did.

Be aware if you are riding through Corriente don't drive the main lane stay on the side lanes. Don't give them an excuse as I did.

Took a load of time and as it was hot (39) I just paid.
Stupid enough had not the 170 pesos he was asking so had to do for 200 pesos.
So watch out leaving Corrientes !!

At route 14 I was stoped, they can't "take' you for speeding as there are roadworks but had to see every freaking paper including international driving license, as I got it all he had to let me go.

Argentina is really fast heading down for a thirdworld status, was here in 2010 and it seemed better than

Just to update, 5 days ago I rode from Posadas to Concepcion del Uruguay on Ruta 14 (including km 341) and after reading all the above I was full on ready to loose a few pesos so was surprised when I wasn't stopped at all.

I slowed down in time well before each stop - in line with the road signs and was prepared to be stopped but each time they waved me on. Only once did they look like they wanted to stop me, but I kept going slowly and looked in my mirror, they didn't seem to care and turned away so I kept going. There is a lot of police presence, mobile speed cameras in white vans and a number of checkpoints. I'd say keep the speed down and watch all the signs as one small mistake and they'll be friendly informing you of an "infracción".

I'd agree about Corrientes - I was stung there too in October but not on the bridge, on the road leading out onto Ruta 12.

Good luck all.

I got nailed on that spot, for supposedly speeding. They wanted $120 usd and i asked if i could pay with my Visa. haha. Should have seen the look on his face. I asked to see speend camera photo and when he couldnt produce it i told him no photo = no dinero and rode off.
They didnt try and stop me.

Ruta 14 Km 139 Southbound
 

Add mile marker 139 to the list. I was stopped at the southbound check point today and told I was speeding. The speed limit was 120 KM (75 MPH) and I was never over 70 MPH becuase I only had 350 pesos and needed to make my gas stretch to make it to my destination. After demanding 1200 pesos and a trip to the computer to use Google Translate they took 300 pesos and left me without enough gas to make it.

I used my Visa to purchase gas but it left a sour taste for Entre Rios. :thumbdown: I probably wont return on that route again. A much better route north is BA to Rosario to Santa Fe then north to the falls.

It look's like things didn't change, this is a quote of "insetonaviseira" from blogspot, it's written in portuguese but it says basically that they got stopped by the police for speeding at Ruta 14, between Colon and Gualeguaychú.

May be of some use.

I've made use of references and info from the HUBB to create something that might be official enough to help get past the police retirement fund waypoints. Just a matter of fighting fake lists of infractions and fines with fake report forms.

Argentina Police Corruption Report Form

Third page is a reprint of one of the posts here and the first page is an elaboration of the official contact form available on the web (which can also be lodged on the web)

If anyone has suggestions for improving its effectiveness, let me know and I'll change it

Hey Tony, that form would be helpful.

Just two mistakes:

1. Por favor complete el forulario Please.....
Correct way: formulario ( letter M missing)

2. Teléphono (in the form and also in the Ministery address)
Correct way: Teléfono (change PH for F)

Cheers,

Santiago

Thanks Santiago. Corrections made.

Between Mr Google's approximations and my typos caused by total lack of Spanish, the errors crept in - and there is nothing that points to a document being a scam quite like a few spelling errors.

If there are any more suggestions for extra information fields or whatever, just post them and once Santiago approves the spelling and grammar, I'll modify the form

Also, if people have specific examples of some of the more outlandish scams pulled at the Argentinian road blocks, I can add them to the hints and tips on the last page. Forewarned is forearmed even though many of them should be covered by the international convention that accepts vehicle equipment and configuration that is legal back in the home country.

Relativity and comparable magnitude
 

Thank you to those who have posted positive comments here, especially those who encourage a "buck up" it ain't that bad attitude.

In the interest of "relativity" please review this research compiled from the world class CATO Institute. You can click on each incident to read a report....

Botched Paramilitary Police Raids | Cato Institute

When we speak of the "police" they are indeed relative.... and one must have the " to what" to understand, so here I present data of comparable magnitude.

xfiltrate eat, drink and be careful

xfiltrate, very hard to see the relevance of that "research" into certain incidents in the US (over a period of many years) to this topic discussing constant police shakedowns on Argentinian highways.