A Drive to Instill Law, Order in Tijuana Traffic

Tijuana is fighting its image as a lawless border town from the street up. Literally.

For the last two months, the Mexican city has begun to move slowly toward enforcing a series of new traffic laws designed to tame a free-wheeling and often dangerous driving culture.

A phalanx of new police officers has been deployed to enforce the new road rules, some of which are tougher than those north of the border. Talking on a cell phone while driving is prohibited. Women are banned from applying makeup while behind the wheel. Car seats, for the first time, are required for children.

The changes could be revolutionary in a city that often struggles to maintain a sense of law and order. But it remains to be seen how far Tijuana authorities will go to enforce the new laws. So far, officers are only issuing warnings for the new offenses, and many inside and outside of officialdom wonder whether the strong pull of disorder will soon reassert itself.

Jorge Ruiz, a 27-year-old owner of a car detail shop, was skeptical about the traffic crackdown, despite being pulled over recently by an officer and warned for using his cell phone while driving.

“This is Mexico. If you know the right people, you can do pretty much what you want,” Ruiz said. “It’s hard for us to take laws seriously when you know many people can get around them.”

But Tijuana council member Jorge Ramos, who helped push through the reforms, said Mexicans should not accept lower standards in their country than they do in the United States.

“If we can buckle up on the other side, if we can get our kids into car seats in California, if we don’t throw our trash out the windows there, why can’t we do it at home?” Ramos asked.

To show they mean business, the council members double many fines. Serious infractions like driving under the influence, speeding and following too closely will cost drivers at least $258. And even throwing litter from a vehicle, once ignored, could now mean a fine of up to $129.

But Tijuana officials say they are more interested in changing driving habits than making money, so they also plan to open Mexico’s first traffic school. Many violators will be able to avoid a fine by attending the school.

Officials in the city of 2 million people hope that an assault on lesser crimes will help erase the city’s Wild West image. The local press has described the changes as revolutionary, while national media have commented that lawmakers in Mexico City could follow suit.

“This is a major change in our culture, in the way we drive. But we need to do this,” said Ramos. “We see more and more accidents, and we think they could be avoided if people have their hands on the wheel and their children in the right seats.”

Certainly, the traffic laws in the border city needed some work. The code was so poorly written that violators who had blocked the entrance to a hospital emergency room were able to successfully defend themselves because there were no written prohibitions against the practice, officials said.

Members of the center-right National Action Party, or PAN, made the changes a central focus of their terms and were able to win over skeptics from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which had dominated Mexican government for decades.

The number of police officers to enforce the rules has increased substantially, with 300 on the municipal force since last year, compared with the previous 125.

The changes have been greeted with amazement, incredulity and some optimism since officers began meting out warnings several weeks ago. Officials say the warnings will continue indefinitely, until the populace seems better informed.

That could take awhile.

The new Tijuana laws seem so outrageous to some motorists that Officer Pedro Manuel Romero coated a copy of a local newspaper article about the new laws in plastic. He shows the article to disbelieving offenders.

Romero said he believes residents will need more than the law on paper to change. They will need to see why traffic safety is vital to their well-being, he said.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult to get people to change their ways,” said Romero, as he stopped offenders near Avenida Revolucion, the thoroughfare lined with craft shops and bars. “People are used to getting away with too many things.”

Many of the motorists Romero stopped on a recent weekday were using cell phones even though they knew it was prohibited. They say they didn’t imagine they’d be nabbed.

Juan Vasquez, a 51-year-old private security guard, was stopped as he talked to one of his clients.

“We’re Mexicans. Forgive us,” Vasquez said. “We’re not used to this. We just keep thinking we’ll [comply] tomorrow. Tomorrow. Everything here is tomorrow.”

Marisol Valenzuela, 34, who accepts rides from friends with her three children, ages 2, 4 and 5, said the requirement that children 4 and under ride in car seats “works in theory, but not in practice.”

“In a city where people do not have their own cars and don’t have a lot of money, how can we buy car seats and how can we always have them in the car we’re in?” Valenzuela asked.

Council member Carlos Murguia was among those who initially opposed the traffic crackdown. “It seemed the punishments were harsh, especially in a country where many people have little resources,” Murguia said.

But a skyrocketing accident rate persuaded him and other opponents to support the changes.

Privately, motorists say they have another fear: that the bevy of new laws merely will provide low-paid police officers another opportunity to pressure the public for payoffs. High fines could make bribes particularly attractive.

Tijuana’s leaders have considered just such a possibility. They have created a new internal affairs unit to monitor officers’ behavior. Like the rest of the reforms, the unit’s effectiveness is yet to be tested.

The best hope for the city’s traffic crackdown is that thousands of everyday drivers will support it as a way to make the dusty streets of Tijuana safer, officials say.

“We’re trying to get the word out,” said council member Ramos. “It’s a slow process, but that’s how change happens sometimes, one step at a time, ticket by ticket.”

*

If you have questions, comments or story ideas regarding driving or traffic in Southern California, send an e-mail to behindthewheel@latimes.com.