Let's say you move somewhere to Latin America.
Whatever city it might be.
It doesn't even matter the neighborhood because what I'm about to say might very well be an issue within your area.
It can happen in nicer and poorer neighborhoods.
And you wake up one morning to walk outside of your apartment to find a rough looking vehicle parked outside of your building.
A vehicle that you don't even recognize.
Given this is Latin America, that in of itself though wouldn't cause concern.
A lot of vehicles down here look older than the typical vehicle you see being used back home.
The issue isn't how old or bad the vehicle looks.
It's that you wake up the next day and the next day and the next day to find it still parked there.
Give it a month.
Still there!
Give it 6 months.
Still there!
Give it a year.
Still there!
Back when I lived in a part of Mexico City near a metro known as Cuatro Caminos, I remember walking out of my apartment building to see such a vehicle.
What made it memorable was that the specific street I lived on had literally NOBODY else living on it.
A street full of abandoned buildings with broken windows going way down.
Such a place would seem ideal for holding a kidnapping victim hostage.
And, out of nowhere, a random vehicle that looked fucked up and probably remember the days when JFK was still alive was sitting just a tiny bit down the street.
Came out of nowhere despite not having neighbors.
And, over the following few months that I had in the area, the vehicle stayed in the exact same area with not a single other soul in the street seen to ever enter or exit that vehicle.
By my guess in hindsight, I can only assume that it was an abandoned vehicle.
Roll the clock a few years.
Now I live in a neighborhood known as Pedregal de Santo Domingo.
While I have a shit ton of neighbors on my street given where I live is much more well populated, I still see questionably abandoned vehicles here and there.
Granted, given the area is a "barrio popular" that is relatively poorer, you actually are less confident if the vehicle is abandoned or not.
For example, whenever I head over to the gym, I see a middle aged man on the next street over always working on some random vehicle he has parked over there.
The vehicle looks like ABSOLUTE trash.
Fuck JFK.
The vehicle probably remembers the days of Cristobal Colon thrusting his 17 inch cock inside of Malinche.
All broken up with shattered windows, terrible paint job, a fucked up looking inside, etc.
But the dude is always on the outside of the vehicle doing some work to it slowly and slowly.
If it wasn't for that older man always sitting on a wooden stool doing work on it, I'd assume it was an abandoned vehicle.
Though, like I said, if a vehicle is abandoned or not is a little bit harder to determine in Latin America than the US because more of the locals drive junk cars that really are older than those you see back home.
When living in a specific area, it becomes easier to guess if a car is abandoned or not when you have been there long enough because you just don't see anyone using it.
Nobody entering or exiting.
It stays in the exact same spot no matter the hour of the day for months or even years on end.
And while you got abandoned cars in the US, it's absolutely a more common problem down here it seems.
Within Mexico City though, they have been trying to address the issue over the last few years.
For example, as you can see in this Twitter thread here, the Mexico City government was asking residents to identify where these abandoned cars are so they can send someone to take them away.
And, on Facebook, there was a politician in Coyoacan (where Pedregal de Santo Domingo is located) who addressed the issue to a crowd (if I'm not mistaken).
And it is an issue.
Here's a bunch of photos of abandoned cars in Mexico City specifically that I found online to demonstrate part of the issue.
Though, if we're being honest, the issue goes deeper than just what you see on the street.
There are legitimate reasons for why people don't want these vehicles laying around.
While I don't understand the consequences of such perfectly, I have lived here long enough to have it be part of my reality too and I find it interesting.
So let's jump into why it is an issue from my outsider understanding.
Final Thoughts
First, as you can see here, apparently some people abandon their vehicles because of perceived financial issues and it could be a robbed vehicle also.
"Entonces, ¿por qué se abandonan los coches? Muchas veces ocurre por desconocimiento por parte de su propietario que piensa que el proceso es farragoso y le va a costar dinero, también porque tiene impuestos pendientes de pagar o porque es un coche robado. Con la crisis económica, muchos conductores no tienen recursos para pagar averías y deciden sin más dejar de utilizar el coche, otros incluso lo abandonan en el propio taller."
Perhaps there was a major accident, repairs are needed and times are hard and the person just abandons it.
Now, to be fair, that article was not about Mexico but that might shed some light on the issue as to why someone would just dump a vehicle somewhere.
Second, one of the issues, as you can see here, with these vehicles being abandoned is that they take up space in a city where parking can be terrible.
“Se trata de ir quitando obstáculos físicos e irregulares, recuperando los espacios y de la vía pública. Ya un vehículo que no se mueve en semanas hay que denunciarlo para que actuemos, sino se va a convertir en un foco socialmente negativo”, comentó.
Explicó que aun cuando pueda haber molestia por parte de propietarios, la ley brinda facultades de remover todo aquello que obstruya la vía pública o violente la convivencia comunitaria vecinal y ciudadana."
As I wrote here or here, you even got folks "informally" reserving spaces to park their vehicles by placing random objects in the street (even if that is not permitted legally).
With abandoned vehicles just laying around, obviously this can make that issue worse.
Third, you have diseases and crime.
Now, to be fair, this is where my understanding is not as clear.
Still, as you can see here, disease apparently part of the issue.
"El automóvil nuevo que hace décadas causó sensación dentro de la familia y que solía reposar al interior de un hogar o bajo el techo de alguna cochera también fue víctima del tiempo, y hoy luce en la calle con grandes cantidades de polvo, vidrios rotos y llantas ponchadas, donde sus mejores acompañantes ahora son roedores, indigentes y algunos maleantes."
And we also have more information here.
"Los vehículos en mal estado, representan focos de infección y de inseguridad, y en alguno de ellos, incluso, las unidades grandes son utilizadas como sanitarios por ciudadanos."
"Algunos ciudadanos como Paula Torres, denunció que estas unidades representan puntos de contaminación y proliferación del mosco transmisor del dengue, chikungunya y zika.
Señalaron que desde hace años, han solicitado el retiro de estos cacharros que representan un riesgo para la salud e integridad de quienes habitan y transitan por estas zonas, especialmente por las noches. "
"“En cualquier esquina hay por lo menos uno o dos carros abandonados, llenos de basura o son utilizados por otras personas para orinar, varios vecinos tememos por nuestra seguridad ya que al anochecer algunos mañosos se esconden en estos carros”, comentó la vecina de la colonia."
Next, we have issues of insecurity and crime.
From what I have read from multiple articles, apparently these cars can increase insecurity because more homeless people like to hang in them and sometimes said homeless people can be scary (though couldn't they be scary by standing in the side walk and not just hanging in vehicles?).
Here's one quote demonstrating that from this article here.
"Para Tania, la situación ha sido peor, pues por las mañanas y aún en la oscuridad cuando sale a trabajar ha sido hostigada por un hombre que fuma a veces detrás o al interior de un auto abandonado en la calle de Quintana Roo en la colonia Roma de la alcaldía Cuauhtémoc."
Outside of that, we have a lot of articles and tweets by Mexico City agencies responsibie for cleaning the streets that give very broad statements that claim these vehicles can be used for crime but they never get specific.
Here's one example from this article here.
"Esto como parte del Programa de Chatarrización de SSC-CDMX, empezaron a identificar y notificar a los vehículos en estado de abandono que se encuentren en vía pública en la Capital, bajo la idea de que estas unidades acumulan basura y fauna nociva, además de que pueden ser utilizados para fines delictivos."
And I wondered to myself this question: how does abandoning a vehicle somewhere contribute to crime?
If I had to guess, maybe leaving them around allows criminals to steal them and commit crimes using them where the car isn't registered in their name or the name of anyone (making it easier for said criminal to get away with the crime).
That's the only way it makes sense to me.
Anyway, from what I found here, you also have had dead bodies dumped in some abandoned vehicles here and there.
"En México fueron hallados siete cadáveres en tres vehículos abandonados
Los cuerpos encontrados corresponden todos a hombres y tenían múltiples heridas provocadas por armas de fuego."
And, from what I found in the comment section of this video here and in other ones, apparently there might be some connection to drug related crimes with this vehicles.
Like somehow being connected to the trafficking and selling of drugs.
Again, I'm not 100% informed on the connection but repeatedly the issue of how it worsens the issue of crime is out there.
So take it for what it is.
I did some minor research for an hour but that's what I could find.
The only other thing I found was that, according to this article here, there are some fines that exist for those who abandon their vehicles.
"Según el Reglamento de Tránsito de la CDMX, esta infracción es castigada con una multa que va de 10 a 20 veces la UMA, es decir, entre $962.2 y $1,924.4 para 2022 (Valor UMA 2022: $96,22), y remisión del vehículo al depósito vehicular."
Of course, one could ask how likely are they to enforce those rules.
With so many murders that happen without justice, I can only imagine that many who abandon their vehicles are not facing any consequences.
Either way, this is nothing more than bringing light to this more frequent issue in places like Mexico City down here.
You also will notice abandoned vehicles down here.
At any rate, that's all I got to say now.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt