Encounter with the Dutch Politie (police)- Netherlands 2017

We were visiting the Netherlands for 10 days in the Summer of 2017, spent a few days in Amsterdam and drove down to a little university town called Groningen for a couple of days. My cousin, Seethu who is married to a loving Dutch human, Rein lives there. We were invited to a dinner at Rein's family home one evening and off we went, all dressed up and ready to have a fabulous time. It was an hour's drive from our AirBNB. 

The minute we reached, we were excited to see a house that was shaped like a pyramid. It was made of meta facade panels, shining under the sunlight. I was in awe. That was my first time seeing such a unique-looking house!

It was a beautiful structure, built by Rein's dad who is in the granite business. The families bonded and we explored his childhood home, while a huge feast of barbecue was being arranged. They turned out to be one of the most hospitable people ever. There were drinks, food, desserts and everything we needed to end the evening on a wonderful note. I had a couple of beers which I did not finish as I was too busy eating than drinking. As always, Nav had to pitch in and complete my part of the drink so that it is not wasted and wouldn't come across as unkind. In between all this, what we did not think about and prepare for was the drive back to our AirBNB. 

Onto the most adventurous part of the story....

As the night approached, it was time to head back home. We bid our goodbyes and followed Rein's car for the one hour drive. It was a dim lit highway and once we neared the locality of the AirBNB, we waved goodbye to Rein's car and switched on Google Maps for the rest of the drive. 

One of the most challenging aspects of renting a car in Netherlands was finding a parking place. Firstly, it was tough to find a free spot close to your halting place and secondly, it cost an arm and a leg. We started to look for parking spaces a little ahead of reaching our destination. In 10 minutes, it was obvious that Google Maps wasn't showing the correct route, as the original route was closed due to construction and we were just going round and round. Since the navigator (who was me) was not giving clear and proper directions, Nav was driving in a confused way and in no time, we saw police car lights flashing behind us (with no siren sounds). Our first instinct was to give them way to pass, but they refused to go past. It became obvious they were flashing the lights for us to pull over.

We were 5 of us in the car. Me & Nav in the front, Ms I and my folks at the back. Ms I was restless and dancing around at the back seat for most of the journey. All our cries of asking her to calm down and sit still in the car was in vain. The only guilt we had while driving in Netherlands was that we didn't have a car seat for her. It was known to be a strict rule, but we kinda took it lightly. That night though, we had something else to worry about- the drinks Nav had gulped down during the dinner. 

I almost froze when I saw 2 police officers with huge guns strapped to their sides, getting out of the police vehicle and approaching us. One knocked on mine & the other on Nav's door and enquired where we were headed. Nav told them that we stay at a nearby AirBNB and was looking for a place to park. The officer on my side opened the door, peeped in and saw 3 terrified people at the back. 

He observed exactly what we were guilty of (pat on his back) and started advising me about how important it was to have a car seat for the toddler.

"Do you know what will happen to that little princess if the car has an accident, Ma'am?

She is going to fly right through that center passage and out through the front glass

Is that something you would wish for? 

How could you not think of her safety and not put her in a car seat?"

I was listening, nodding my head and all I could say was "I understand, officer".

Meanwhile, the other officer had taken Nav to the back of the car, where his colleagues decided to test his alcohol content. They asked him to blow into a device and though Nav believed that it was within limits of the country, he was terrified of things going wrong on our last night in Groningen and being imprisoned. Thinking on his feet, he attempted to use the gimmicks from India and blow with the least strength possible. The officers tried convincing him that he has to blow strongly for the test to work. He continued to blow and this went on for 5 minutes. Finally, one officer lost his cool, raised his voice and told Nav that he should blow with all his strength and from the tummy. There was no choice other than to comply and we heard a light beep. 

Fortunately, the officers found that the alcohol levels were under limits and asked for our address. We explained that we were tourists and we didn't have a permanent address. They advised us to get a car seat first thing in the morning, asked Nav to park the car and told the rest of us to get out of the car and walk home. No fines, no tickets. God bless them!

I was glad we got away with no criminal records and tickets. 

One good thing that came out of the whole experience- We found the best excuse to teach Ms I a life-saving habit. From that day, she has never sat in a car without a car seat or a seat belt. 

Thanks to the Netherlands Police :)

Prost. Until the next story from our Dutch diaries ;)