Comments on: It’s Illegal to Honk in Antigua

By: Guest

Guest — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:16:04 +0000

Just back from Antigua and I'll go there again in a heart beat: before reading this blog I was just telling a friend of mine who is Guat that I was surprised as to how nice it was to eat and sit in a park not having to smell the stench of cigarettes/cigars and didn't have to raise my voice to talk over the car horns as I only heard one horn the whole week I was there. I did see a few accidents along the highway but none in the city. Looks like the cars, however, have been in a few as most have dents. How can you have a bad accident with a speed limit of 40kph?

By: DC Guate Viajero

DC Guate Viajero — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:09:32 +0000

I had no problem walking the streets smoking last year, including around the park. Things were more relaxed in San Pedro, but there were places enforcing it.

By: Adina

Adina — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:35:45 +0000

I wonder if the ban applies to marijuana. I could swear someone was smoking that in our complex last night.

By: guateliving

guateliving — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:48:01 +0000

Don, the ban includes both cigarettes and cigars, and it's a countrywide ban. I'm not sure about the park though, I know for certain it includes buildings. The fine is 500Q to the smoker and 5,000Q to the merchant. No one that I can find has been fined yet, and most of the places I frequent will usually allow you to smoke once they've closed the doors. I'll light up a cigar in the park sometime and let you know what happens.

By: Don Asustado

Don Asustado — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:35:15 +0000

Is the smoking ban just for cigars or are cigarettes included? Is it countrywide or just Antigua? I have not been to Guate for a year. Is it just in buildings or does it include the park? I find it almost impossible to believe you can't sit in the park and read the newspaper and drink coffee and smoke a cigar! A violation of human rights, it is!

By: DC Guate Viajero

DC Guate Viajero — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:10:54 +0000

I'm with you on the bus exhaust and smoking! When I went last summer, I knew they'd passed a law a few months before banning indoor smoking. But I sure didn't expect that anyone would bother to enforce it. And I certainly expected to be able to smoke at "courtyard" restaurants like El Fuente. After all, they're not "indoors." Surprised the hell out of me. There were even places in San Pedro enforcing it.

I'd like to know how they intend to identify a single honking horn when there's a slew of cars on the street.

And I've seen plenty of accidents.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:05 +0000

When I drove in Guatemala city, it appeared to me that honking the horn was used in place of pressing on the brake, anyways, I love driving in Guatemala, in Chicago there is a cop around every corner waiting to give you a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, or going 5 miles over the speed limit.
In Guate, seems like there are no rules, and yet, I have been there 5 times and have never seen an accident, back home I see one almost every day.