# road accident



## MJB5293 (Feb 26, 2009)

on the way from Monterray to our home traveling on mexico 57 a truck that i was on the left side of decided to change lanes, forceing me to the right sholder. i lost control went accross both lanes to the right and my car rolled over onece completley. 
thank God we were not hurt bad, bumps and bruised. the federal Police came and i am here to tell you that they were so helpful nice respectful. after reading alot on this site I was yes surprised. 
they stayed with us till the tow truck came, took us with the car to the police station called and demanded the insurance man come, they did they feed us gave us first aid and I could not be more grateful they never asked for a dime 

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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

MJB5293 said:


> on the way from Monterray to our home traveling on mexico 57 a truck that i was on the left side of decided to change lanes, forceing me to the right sholder. i lost control went accross both lanes to the right and my car rolled over onece completley.
> thank God we were not hurt bad, bumps and bruised. the federal Police came and i am here to tell you that they were so helpful nice respectful. after reading alot on this site I was yes surprised.
> they stayed with us till the tow truck came, took us with the car to the police station called and demanded the insurance man come, they did they feed us gave us first aid and I could not be more grateful they never asked for a dime
> 
> a picture is on my face book at Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More


That´s good to hear. We also had an accident but in Chiapas near Tapachula on the Guatemala border. The federal cops also came to our rescue. They demanded a $5,000 Peso bribe to help us which we paid since we had no choice since it was the middle of the night and we were stranded. Anybody who tells you the Mexican federal cops are not crooked is either lucky or pulling your leg.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Talk about two sides of a coin! I guess that pretty much Mexico in a nutshell.


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## maryellen1952 (Oct 5, 2009)

I was involed in a rear end in Tijuana earlier this year. The TJ police immediately came to the scene and everyone was very helpful. Fortunately the truck that hit me was a ZGas truck so they repaired my car...it took 6 weeks but it was repaired.
I drive to/from work in San Diego across the border to Rosarito several times a week at all hours including after dark and I have had to dodge horses and people running across the street on dark highways to name a few. Driving in Mexico esp. after dark requires one to be a very proactive driver to make it home safe.


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## scubakevin (Jun 22, 2011)

Thank god I have never had an accident in Mexico but I have had 2 different encounters with the Federal Police and one encounter with the local police as a result of an accident that my wife had.

The first encounter with a Federal officer was in the Riviera Maya many years ago while the highway between Cancun and Tulum had one of the highest incidents of car accidents resulting in death. I used to commute from Cancun to my office in Puerto Aventuras daily (til I moved there) and every day we saw accidents, frequently fatal accidents. One day I had a tire blow out at about 90kph which was 10 under the limit, I moved to the shoulder and my passenger left the car and went to the side of the road. I began to undertake the changing of the tire when a Federal Patrol pulled behind on an angle putting on his overhead lights and giving me room to work. the tire was a right rear so I wasn't in the road and he not only got out of his car and came to my side but got the spare out of the car for me while I was loosening the lug nuts on the car and while I was tightening the spare he was putting the damaged tire in the back of the car. Never asked for a penny, never implied and even shook my hand and told me to drive safely.

The second encounter was less pleasant but an excellent example of the different classes of people but not only that the difference between the Federal Police and their groups. I was returning to Cancun from Coatepec Veracruz after a 4 week stay working on an eco tourism plan with Veracruz Governer Miguel Aleman 2004 or 2005 can't remember since it was a 4 year project, anyway I was on the highway still in Veracruz entering a toll booth on the highway where the Federal Police had a Revision set up, those Federal Police dressed all in black with masks and M16 and AK 47's in hand. As usual I was polite and got out, opened the back of the car let the guy see everything which was all of my computer, video and photography equipment along with Coffee and some great Cigars which were given to me during my stay. The guy said thanks and closed my hatch and I was about to get on my way when he asked if I had a drivers license, of course I do and handed it to him, then the registration to the car, which I handed to him and now my passport. I was surprised as never had I been asked for my drivers license much less my passport. Well he looked at it a few minutes and then surprisingly asked to see my Visa. Well I never carried my VISA in those days we are talking about the old book type and I always kept it in the safe at home. But I explained to him that he could see on my drivers license where my FM 2 and number was clearly stated and then proceeded to explain that the last 4 weeks I was working a project with the Governor of Veracruz. He went off and got another fella who came and told me he didn't care who I was or which whom I worked I was now detained and going to be transported to the Regional Processing Center.

They ordered me to the other side of the highway with a bunch of other Federal Police dressed in Grey where they proceeded to take photos and videos as well as bring a dog to sniff the car. The guy who seemed to be in charge asked me some questions about my stay in Mexico I explained that I had been living here for 10 years and my wife was a Mexican. Now he asked me if I had a copy of my Marriage Certificate with me, I got sarcastic and told him sure if he could show me his I would gladly show him mine like who carries their marriage certificate. He wasn't amused and went away and I took the opportunity to begin making calls first to my wife in Cancun to tell her what was happening and to start a chain of phone calls to her god father in Mexico City who was a legislator and have him try to contact someone in the governors office in Veracruz. Soon a very tall Federal Police officer from the Highway division came over and told me they were going to tow my car and inventory it but took the time to ask me what was happening why I was without identifications. I explained the story and he left and came back with all my papers. He said don't worry no tow truck is coming I will ride in your car with you to the processing center and get you in first because something is wrong with this whole thing. He rode with me, when we arrived he told me to lock my car and put the alarm and if anyone asked me for keys that he had them. I indeed got called in first to the commandants office where he proceeded to ask me where I picked up the group of illegal immigrants that I was transporting to the US border. Shocked I told him he was mistaken that I was driving a red Golf from Coatepec to Cancun after a 4 week project and didn't understand what was the problem. He asked his assistant to call one of the Honduran's in to question and asked where I had picked him up, The young boy surprised and scared said for sure he was NOT with me but with his friends on the bus (maybe he was afraid that I did something worst than them) and the next one in he asked the same and got the same reply. The commandant kindly asked me to sit outside for a few minutes while a barrage of Federal Police from the highway patrol to the guys in Grey Uniforms entered and left, his assistant came out and asked if I would like coffee or something before being called back in.

When he called me in he had that look of confusion on his face that one who commands a group of Federal Police shouldn't have. He was flipping through all of my papers and looked up and asked me "Can YOU tell me why you are here"? I of course had no idea but explained the story step by step to him highlighting the professional manner in which some of the officers behaved and the fact that never did any of them ask for money to help or let me go. 

Based on the location and operation he called the commander of a group of Federal Police called the Jaguars and verified that they were the ones indeed at that location in BLACK his guys were in Grey and regular highway patrol uniforms. He passed me the phone after his explication so that I could tell the other commander who were the two guys, what did they look like etc. Well as I explained hoods pulled over the face all I could see were the eyes but the "in charge" guy who came and told me I was now detained, had an M16 with a logo of his Futbol team on the stock and had a mustache. The commander thanked me and asked to speak again with the commander, they agreed to go together to the location and find out what the hell had happened. I received apologies while the rest of the group was shouted at for detaining someone and not knowing the reason or having the names of the persons who originally detained me.

While he was shouting my cellular phone rang and I asked permission to answer and it was the director of Public Relations from the governors office asking what was going on, she was quite concerned asking if they had hit me or done anything to hurt me. As I answered the commandant was turning pale and when I asked for his name he kindly gave it and asked with whom I was talking, I gave him Mariana's name and her job and he asked to please speak with her. He apologized a hundred times and offered to show me back to the highway since he had to go there. He asked why I didn't say I was a consultant to the Governor and I told him the other guy said he didn't care who I was or for whom I worked so why mention it, I did nothing wrong. The Commander gave me his card and told me if I was ever in Veracruz again to call and he would invite me to the best local restaurant and if I ever had issues anywhere in Mexico just show his card or call his Cellular.

The story of my wifes Accident I will out in another reply as it also is long.


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## scubakevin (Jun 22, 2011)

the second part of the story takes place in 2011 in Cancun and not me directly but my wife. My wife who is a wedding coordinator in Cancun and the Riviera Maya had to go to Cancun to meet with the Florist (we were living in Playa) and took her assistants with her to pick up some stuff that arrived to the airport from Mexico City. When I am working I lose track of time sometimes and she called me on the radio to tell me that she was going to be delayed getting back, they had decided to go look at some stuff and there was alot of traffic. 

Later I realized it was 10PM so I called her back and she said they were eating something and then would be on there way. She never told me she was in an accident or anything like that but finally around 11pm she had to tell me because now she was being detained for 72 hours.

I called her on the cellular rather than the radio to get a full calm explanation, she was driving on the highway when a drunk driver (2 times over the limit) left his lane and hit them in the right side of her SUV and attempted to flee. Thanks to some other motorists and her fast thinking they blocked him in and forced him to stop while her assistant was on the phone with the 060 operator (like 911). The guys passengers abandoned him there running into a field with the remaining beers that they were drinking while returning to Cancun with their COMPANY Vehicle.

We are insured 100% which I recommend highly and the insurance agency came and began their part and the insurance company for the company car came and would not participate because driving while intoxicated invalidates the policy. The owner of the company came and she fired the guy on the spot and claimed that the company no longer was responsible and would not take responsibility for the damages. In Mexico there is nothing known as NO FAULT someone always IS at fault and fault must be legally accepted, admitted or assigned by a judge. Since the drunk guy wouldn't admit guilt and my wife wouldn't concede that she was at fault and forgive him the damage to our vehicle both would be detained until Monday (we are on Friday) waiting a hearing in front of the judge. 

The Insurance Carrier Quailtas sent an attorney from the Cancun office to deal with it and he told her if she had 2 weddings that weekend to attend she had no option but to say she was at fault so everyone could go home. I told her no and I asked for the name of the lawyer who was there as I wanted to speak with him and at the same time I called the insurance company hotline and explained what was happening. They did a 3 way call to the lawyer and I told him either solve it or I would send a criminal specialist to handle it and the insurance company was going to foot the bill for his stupidity and ignorance.

20 minutes later she called me back on the radio and said she was leaving Cancun and that the captain of the police was taking them to pick up her car at the impound yard. The damage was not that great, about 5,000 USD and I had to rent a car for the weekend to cover her events and took her SUV to the Dealership for repairs. We forced the insurance company to pay for parts replacement instead of repair and didn't have to pay a dime, the drunk driver had family that put up a car as collateral for his release because obviously it was a battle that the insurance company didn't want to foot the bill for something that the other guy was clearly at fault.

The moral of the story here was that even though my wife is Mexican, had her assistants in the car with her as witnesses and the other driver was twice the legal limit intoxicated and we were insured 100% there was still the possibility of her spending 72 hours in jail waiting for a judge to assign the blame to the drunk driver. With a little bribery from the company that owned the vehicle there is always the possibility that the blame would be assigned to my wife anyway since in local communities like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and worst today TULUM corruption at all levels runs like water through veins. 

Whether you are an expat or Mexican you need to know your rights and how to enforce them, you need to really have a GREAT lawyer in case of certain situations which I can name 10.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

*Fear of accident scenario*



scubakevin said:


> the second part of the story takes place in 2011 in Cancun and not me directly but my wife. My wife who is a wedding coordinator in Cancun and the Riviera Maya had to go to Cancun to meet with the Florist (we were living in Playa) and took her assistants with her to pick up some stuff that arrived to the airport from Mexico City. When I am working I lose track of time sometimes and she called me on the radio to tell me that she was going to be delayed getting back, they had decided to go look at some stuff and there was alot of traffic.
> 
> Later I realized it was 10PM so I called her back and she said they were eating something and then would be on there way. She never told me she was in an accident or anything like that but finally around 11pm she had to tell me because now she was being detained for 72 hours.
> 
> ...


__________________________________________________________________

Thank you for those experiences. Very scary but exactly what I have always been worried about. I recently mentioned to a long time poster that I wanted to bring something up about accidents that concerned me and you did just that.

My concern has always been a scenario like the following:

A Mexican and his family run a red light and I t-bone them in the intersection while going through the green light. One of the Mexicans is seriously injured, say a young child (perhaps even dies). They all say that the "******" ran the red light whereas they had the green light.

Some Mexican pedestrians that know the Mexican family back up the false story of my running a red light and support the fact that the Mexican family had the green light.

With Napoleonic law, (I have to prove my innocence) and liars galore, I assume that my ass is grass and I am going to prison (temporarily at a minimum and in the worst case scenario until I make sufficient restitution to buy the liars off, if even possible, especially if death was involved.) An insurance adjuster, without witnesses on my side, would be virtually useless. Obviously I would have 100% insurance coverage but how helpful in a scenario like this.

Because I have been so involved with legalities and lawyers through the decades I must admit this is my biggest fear. Perhaps my only real one.

Any comments anyone???


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Jail*



Detailman said:


> __________________________________________________________________
> 
> Thank you for those experiences. Very scary but exactly what I have always been worried about. I recently mentioned to a long time poster that I wanted to bring something up about accidents that concerned me and you did just that.
> 
> ...


My ex brother in law who lives in Mexicali rammed a hearse, of all things, at a 4-way stop. His fault. He being stupid or afraid fled the scene. This was 15 years ago. When the police came to the house he was arrested and spent 1 week in jail until the hearse was fixed and the bill was paid for by us relatives and friends. In my option a whole hearse paint job was not needed, but was done and we paid $2.300 US. That was a lot of money 15 years ago in Mexico. I might be inclined to think many people made some money on this incident, not only the owner of the hearse.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

AlanMexicali said:


> My ex brother in law who lives in Mexicali rammed a hearse, of all things, at a 4-way stop. His fault. He being stupid or afraid fled the scene. This was 15 years ago. When the police came to the house he was arrested and spent 1 week in jail until the hearse was fixed and the bill was paid for by us relatives and friends. In my option a whole hearse paint job was not needed, but was done and we paid $2.300 US. That was a lot of money 15 years ago in Mexico. I might be inclined to think many people made some money on this incident, not only the owner of the hearse.


Appreciate your comment. My concern would be with physical injury or death, despite the fact that the other person was 100% at fault.

Dollars spent for mechanical damage, although frustrating if a person is not at fault, would be a non-issue in my scenario. Not to be too offhanded, but money is only money but my ass is my ass.

It is the false testimony and and resulting prison sentence that frightens me.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Car Insurance*



Detailman said:


> Appreciate your comment. My concern would be with physical injury or death, despite the fact that the other person was 100% at fault.
> 
> Dollars spent for mechanical damage, although frustrating if a person is not at fault, would be a non-issue in my scenario. Not to be too offhanded, but money is only money but my ass is my ass.
> 
> It is the false testimony and and resulting prison sentence that frightens me.


Get a good lawyer and sue your car insurance company. They will then have to settle the injury suit and most likely have to have their car and your car repaired if all the evidence is staked against you. Don't rely on your car insurance company no matter what they tell you, they are self interest, not your interest, in my opinion. They could drag it on for a year and not pay a cent and then you will be screwed and your worries and automobile will look like crap for that long.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

AlanMexicali said:


> Get a good lawyer and sue your car insurance company. They will then have to settle the injury suit and most likely have to have their car and your car repaired if all the evidence is staked against you. Don't rely on your car insurance company no matter what they tell you, they are self interest, not your interest, in my opinion. They could drag it on for a year and not pay a cent and then you will be screwed and your worries and automobile will look like crap for that long.


Good point. I can appreciate that might be the only alternative. My concern would still be that I could be sitting in prison while my lawyer tries to sort things out with the insurance company, etc. That can take a long time.

As mentioned in a prior post, I am aware of two different Canadians that spent close to two years each in prison although completely innocent. (Neither involved car accidents but both had sworn affidavits from the guilty parties that they were innocent bystanders to the crimes. Didn't matter to the prosecution. In "their opinion" they were guilty. Prove otherwise was the position taken.)

In the one instance the Canadian government was actively trying on one women's behalf but she was still in the Guadalajara prison for over two years and ended up suicidal toward the end due to the conditions.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*False witnessing*



detailman said:


> good point. I can appreciate that might be the only alternative. My concern would still be that i could be sitting in prison while my lawyer tries to sort things out with the insurance company, etc. That can take a long time.
> 
> As mentioned in a prior post, i am aware of two different canadians that spent close to two years each in prison although completely innocent. (neither involved car accidents but both had sworn affidavits from the guilty parties that they were innocent bystanders to the crimes. Didn't matter to the prosecution. In "their opinion" they were guilty. Prove otherwise was the position taken.)
> 
> in the one instance the canadian government was actively trying on one women's behalf but she was still in the guadalajara prison for over two years and ended up suicidal toward the end due to the conditions.


wow


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

One may find that a prison stay will last until your entire worldwide resources, and those or your friends and family have been exhausted. Remember, you are guilty until you prove that you are innocent. That will require mountains of paperwork; most of it having numbers in all four corners.
This is not the USA or Canada; logic and evidence may not apply.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> One may find that a prison stay will last until your entire worldwide resources, and those or your friends and family have been exhausted. Remember, you are guilty until you prove that you are innocent. That will require mountains of paperwork; most of it having numbers in all four corners.
> This is not the USA or Canada; logic and evidence may not apply.


So what do you do? Simply hope that you never end up in a situation that is not of your making and that you really have no control of to begin with?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We do our best to stay out of trouble, but can't be bothered worrying our way through life. I've experienced over 30 countries, a few revolutions, one wreck and a few surgeries and have managed to make it to 74. If they want me, so be it.
Many of us have been really spoiled, if living in the USA or Canada, by 'nanny states', cradle to grave insurance, welfare safety nets, etc. I made other choices and have 'lived' life, perhaps more authentically.
If you want the joy, beauty, weather, people and other advantages of Mexico, you may have to give up a few things, not worry about them, and live while you have the chance. "Life Insurance" is an oxymoron!


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