Getting a Driver's License in Zihua - current info

Hi - Just thought I would share my experience getting my driver's license (finally...!) yesterday -- Since all of the info I found here and elsewhere was outdated/incorrect at this moment.

I went to the Direccion de Salud, which is currently located behind Profeco - 2 streets past Elektra/same side as Elektra. They needed my ID, took height/weight/blood pressure and asked my blood type (would test for it if I hadn't known). For $108 they gave me the certificate I needed.

Next to Palacio Municipal - La Deportiva (was able to find street parking just past Bodega Aurrera and walk in). Only gave them my ID, Telmex bill and the health certificate. For $560 I got the license hot off the press (almost burned my fingers!). Valid for 5 years. For slightly less you can get it for 3 years (but it was still over $400). They ask if you want to be an organ donor and print the name and phone number of your 'emergency contact' on the back of the license.

I guess knowing what blood type you are is the most helpful info when giving people with zero proof of driving skills or vision a license

Having your blood type on you license is certainly helpful. Getting a driver's license without a knowledge or driving test is truly bizarre but might explain the driving style there. We had a car in Zihua but sold it. Getting transportation from a local driver makes much more sense and allows you to enjoy the views. We use Pedro Moreno 672-119-2398 or pedro.91477@gmail.com He speaks perfect English.

Just curious
Does Pedro charge the published taxi fares?
Tks

Actually knowing your blood type is next to useless medically. Should you need blood, the procedure is called “type and cross match.” The first thing that is done is a blood type, which takes a couple of minutes, then further tests are done to determine if the blood will react with the donor blood. There would never be a case where the blood type was not done. If the situation was that time critical, O negative blood would be given.

What is the heath certificate?

Are you required to be a resident of Mexico or may I obtain a driver's license as a visitor?

I would imagine so. Call him to find out.

It is an official form signed by a doctor (or other duly authorized medical service provider) that certifies your height, weight and blood type.

I post on a few automotive forums on Qura and YouTube. When the subject turns to some drivers and the condition of their vehicles there are always the calls for tougher licensing requirements, more intensive driver training, mandatory auto shop in high school, strict safety & emissions inspections, etc.

Always get a kick out of telling them how laughable any of those ideas are where I live because one literally does not have to know how to drive, be able to read or even see a road sign to get a license.

Naturally that would result in total chaos...the entire country* would look like something between Death Race 2000 and the final scene in Used Cars. Except it doesn't.

There is a spirit of cooperation and give & take here that doesn't exist in the US, and it makes driving a pleasant experience. There is no road rage...at least not that I have encountered. Nobody sits in the middle of the lane with traffic piled up behind them while they self-righteously enforce the speed limit. When I slow down to turn into a driveway, there is not a horn blasting the instant my brake lights come on because I happen to have--for a couple of nano seconds--inconvenienced a BMW driver. But the best part is I don't have to maintain a constant vigil for ticket-happy (or even trigger-happy) cops. I can focus my entire attention on actually driving, navigating, and not hitting stuff.

*Do license requirements vary state by state, or is "no test required" true everywhere?

There was that one episode of MASH where the guy had swapped dog tags with a dead man, and Hawkeye gave him the wrong blood type.

If memory serves, the same thing happened to Don Draper / Dick Whitiker in Mad Men. But that wasn't the 4077...

But none of that was real. In 40+ years as an ER doc there were only a couple of times I gave uncross-matched blood to a trauma patient. If for some reason you don’t have the time to wait for the cross match, you give O negative blood, not ideal but hardly ever any immediate problems. Keep in mind in those cases not giving blood would mean the patient dies.

I have been told that as of Jan 1 that in order to obtain a Mexican Drivers license you much show Permanate Residency. The same holds true for registering a vehicle. Also, there are no grandfather clauses. I hope some one else will help answer your question????? As I have only been told this, no experience with renewal process yet.

SO agree with you on how polite drivers tend to be.

Some states have written and driving tests. Supposedly as of January 1, all states had to have some kind of test. After having read that announcement in probably October, we renewed our licenses and haven't read anything else about it since.

Friends lived in Ajijic. He went in and failed the written test twice. She went in and paid an extra 20 USD to take the test the "easy" way. The examiner put the cursor on the correct answer, and she hit enter. Passed the first try. He went the easy route his third try.

Everyone knows something about anything but the question asked. Please help this person out as they have a very valid question.

But none of that was real. In 40+ years as an ER doc there were only a couple of times I gave uncross-matched blood to a trauma patient. If for some reason you don’t have the time to wait for the cross match, you give O negative blood, not ideal but hardly ever any immediate problems. Keep in mind in those cases not giving blood would mean the patient dies.

Wait...does that mean St Elsewhere wasn't real either?! ER? House? Was Agent Scully even an MD?

I'm in the 5 gallon club at the San Diego Blood bank, so I have been exposed to that kind of information. (Somewhere on my drive is a pic of me cosplaying as the unfortunate very beat-up red-shirted Star Fleet crewman donating blood at Comic-Con.)

Is the test available in English? If not, I only have about four and a half years to learn enough Spanish to take it. Gotta up my game, man.

My suggestion is to just go down there and ask. The person who checks you in at the door--in our experience--is very helpful and knowledgeable.

Denying driver's licenses to temporary residents seems a little unreasonable, (not that that's ever stopped a government agency before) if for no other reason than they are losing a few hundred pesos per person.

The reality, I suspect, is they are limiting the duration of the license to not exceed the residency. That would make more sense.

If you have a driver licence you do not need to have a test in Zihua

Blood type, via a test. Also you must have residency. No citizenship, but residency. No resident, no D.L.

Over the years I have read numerous postings here about the “hows” of obtaining a Guerrero driver’s licence. Can someone help me understand the “whys” of getting one?

I understand that some permanent residents live in Mexico as their usual year-round residence. It makes sense that they would obtain a Mexican driver’s licence. It might be impractical to renew their non-Mexican licence.

I am a permanent resident who stays in Mexico for under 180 days each year and typically for 45-65 days at a time. Are there any potential benefits or liabilities for me to obtain a Guerrero driver’s licence”?

If there are any British Columbians with a Guerrero driver’s licence, how do you deal with BC’s prohibition on having more than one driver’s licence?

Please note than (sic) when you qualify for your new B.C. licence, you'll need to surrender your previous licence to ICBC. B.C. law requires that you only have one driver's licence.

https://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/moving-bc/Pages/Moving-from-within-Canada.aspx#:~:text=Please%20note%20than%20when%20you,only%20have%20one%20...

I’m guessing some other Canadian provinces and US states have similar provisions.

As you stated above, we live here full time, have no connections to the US. When we had to rent a car in California last year we had to have a valid drivers license. The one from here worked fine.

Mexico accepts licenses from both the US and Canada, so if you have a valid one, there is no reason to get one in Mexico.

Rule #1, If your driving in Mexico and you get pulled over, Never give them your USA / Canada Drivers License. This is when it is better to have a Mexican Drivers License. Why, Trip to the police station and who has your license? They do and you want it back. How much are you going to pay? They know you will pay more for your US or Canada License than you will for the Mexican License.

Rule #1, If your driving in Mexico and you get pulled over, Never give them your USA / Canada Drivers License. This is when it is better to have a Mexican Drivers License. Why, Trip to the police station and who has your license? They do and you want it back. How much are you going to pay? They know you will pay more for your US or Canada License than you will for the Mexican License.

Actually, if they take it and you have to recover it at the station then you've called their bluff and you'll only pay the standard fine, if any. It's only on the street where they can extort you, not at the station where their supervisors are and everyone is under scrutiny.

problem is easily solved, have two wallets, one for BC and one for Guerrero. What BC does not know about whether you do or don't have two driver's licenses will not upset
public order in BC.

If your BC licence is expired more than a few years you have to take a written and drive test unless you can prove you have been driving with another licence, And they demand you surrender your other licence if you want a new BC licence, just went through it

Is a International Drivers License recognized in Mexico ?

Is a International Drivers License recognized in Mexico ?

It wouldn't be "international" if it weren't. But as always, any documents you carry and present as "official ID" to any public official is ALWAYS a matter just between you and the public official. Sometimes Mr. Franklin's is an official ID.

Your IDL/IDP lets you drive legally in foreign countries when accompanied by your valid US driver's license.

However, since both US and Canadian licenses are accepted here, why bother getting one?

Is a International Drivers License recognized in Mexico ?

I don’t think there is such a thing as an International Driver’s Licence.

I think there is an International Driving Permit. The permit is merely a supporting document for a driver’s licence. It confirms that the license is a valid document and stipulates the level of the licence.

An International Driving Permit, or IDP, is a conversion of your Canadian driver's licence into a universal driving classification, allowing you to drive a vehicle in most foreign countries without further tests or applications. It is proof that you possess a valid driver's licence, issued by a competent authority in Canada, and is only valid when used in conjunction with a valid Canadian driver's licence.

https://www.bcaa.com/trip-planning/international-driving-permit

This is particularly valuable when dealing with driving in places where the licence is in a different language. Imagine a police office in Canada or the US or Mexico pulling someone over and being presented with a licence in Chinese or Russian.

But it is not limited to languages. I was in California and when I tried to use my BC driver’s licence as ID, the uniformed officer said, “I don’t know what a proper driver’s licence from British Columbia looks like.” I wished I had had an IDP. (But maybe they would have said, “I don’t know what an International Driving Permit is supposed to look like.”)

(Another time a person thought I had driven my BC-plated car all the way to California from Colombia. )

A friend of mine from the Province of Quebec was stopped in the State of Georgia while driving his motorcycle on their way to Florida. It was a so called “routine stop” by the officer and was asked for his license and Insurance documents -- which he provided.

The officer rejected his produced Insurance documentation because they were only in French and told my friend that he would make arrangements for a taxi to take his wife to the nearest motel , his motorcycle seized, towed to a storage lot and he would be placed under arrest and incarcerated until he could produce the required documentation in English.

My friend asked what it would take to make this problem go away and (as ZihuaRob referred to in an earlier post) some Franklins came into play -- five of them (which was all he had on him at the time) and he was on his way.

I relayed that event to my brother who spent/spends time driving in Georgia and he opined that this is a risk for Quebec Snowbirds heading for Florida and driving through Georgia because Georgia requires automobile documents to be in English.

I never liked the laminated Driver Licenses. I preferred the folding paper ones where one could secrete a couple of “C” notes -- for emergency purposes only…...
Roberto!

My friend asked what it would take to make this problem go away and (as ZihuaRob referred to in an earlier post) some Franklins came into play -- five of them (which was all he had on him at the time) and he was on his way.

This was nothing more than a police shakedown. Did you not think to record the interaction? At the very least, you should have recorded the officer's name and car number and reported the incident. Eventually, if enough victims come forward, this cockroach will be squashed.

'My friend asked what it would take to make this problem go away and (as ZihuaRob referred to in an earlier post) some Franklins came into play -- five of them (which was all he had on him at the time) and he was on his way.'

Holy Funk. Deliverance meets Midnight Express.

My friend asked what it would take to make this problem go away and (as ZihuaRob referred to in an earlier post) some Franklins came into play -- five of them (which was all he had on him at the time) and he was on his way.

This was nothing more than a police shakedown. Did you not think to record the interaction? At the very least, you should have recorded the officer's name and car number and reported the incident. Eventually, if enough victims come forward, this cockroach will be squashed.

You have not spent any time in Georgia.

Is a International Drivers License recognized in Mexico ?

I don’t think there is such a thing as an International Driver’s Licence.

I think there is an International Driving Permit. The permit is merely a supporting document for a driver’s licence. It confirms that the license is a valid document and stipulates the level of the licence.

An International Driving Permit, or IDP, is a conversion of your Canadian driver's licence into a universal driving classification, allowing you to drive a vehicle in most foreign countries without further tests or applications. It is proof that you possess a valid driver's licence, issued by a competent authority in Canada, and is only valid when used in conjunction with a valid Canadian driver's licence.

https://www.bcaa.com/trip-planning/international-driving-permit

This is particularly valuable when dealing with driving in places where the licence is in a different language. Imagine a police office in Canada or the US or Mexico pulling someone over and being presented with a licence in Chinese or Russian.

But it is not limited to languages. I was in California and when I tried to use my BC driver’s licence as ID, the uniformed officer said, “I don’t know what a proper driver’s licence from British Columbia looks like.” I wished I had had an IDP. (But maybe they would have said, “I don’t know what an International Driving Permit is supposed to look like.”)

(Another time a person thought I had driven my BC-plated car all the way to California from Colombia. )

California Highway Patrol officer: “I don’t know what a proper driver’s license from British Columbia looks like.”

Narrator: "The dude's job is literally knowing what different licenses look like."

You have not spent any time in Georgia.

And I have no intention of ever doing so, thank you very much.

You have not spent any time in Georgia.

And I have no intention of ever doing so, thank you very much.

Pulling a phone from your pocket in a remote stretch of I-75 S.could get you shot and buried under a pecan tree.

Is it true that three words feared by Black people in Georgia are “routine traffic stop”?