Car accident yesterday!

One important point you probably won't believe, is you may have been a set target, hypothetically, this man has been paid by police to hit you,and your lawyer, the police, The man, the translator, the insurance company employees are all standing by waiting to make their money as they are all involved with the crime. I'm sorry to hear you are going through this bit its part of living in this country.   Most importantly is that you are not injured.

You never stop learning, there is no such thing as having the right of way in the DR.

Thanks,  yes I have heard of these cases, this time no.    And yup it is part of living in this country.

I went to the AMET office and got my police report this morning. Thats a joke as there are no photos,  questions, witnesses nada. They dont do anything.   

Then you go down to the  Traffic court to meet the  prosecutor/majistrate who reviews the case and sometimes makes an immediate decision. Other times he waits for more info. In my case they are giving the "other side" another day for someone to show an interest before they release my car to the insurance company.

As he said it is pretty open and shut but he prefers to give another day and I am ok with that. Now I am back at my office dealing with the  fallout,  loss of time,  car issues, insurance issues etc.

It could have been so much worse!

All food for thought. Glad to know that your okay.

Glad you are ok...Number 1

A very similar thing happened to us about 8 months ago.  Speeding moto, wrong side of the road, no helmet, no insurance, no license, not his bike and no registration, illegal Haitian and even had no shoes on.  He flew over our car and suffered only a few cuts and scrapes.  He did not even want to go to the hospital. He was know to the locals also as an "idiota" on the bike constantly speeding and such.

I filed a report with AMET the next morning, he never filed one but did three days later have someone come and demand $25,000 pesos for his :"injuries" and for fixing his bike.  We contacted our lawyer who contacted him and offered him $4000 pesos and that was it or we would see him in court if he was not deported first.  He took the 4K signed the papers and we have not heard from him since.

I hope you get off as cheaply considering no mater what the accident was your "fault".

Keep us posted on the saga

Bob K

This story is somewhat troubling. Is the message drive your vehicle only when you absolutely must?

The message is be very very careful. For me I will use a driver from now on. I just do not need the drama or grief attached to this.

I'm so glad you are okay...and not in jail!  This is a topic I think bears some attention as I've heard some bad stories...

Thank you! And it sure does. I met someone this morning with a pretty horrifrc story but I don't have his permission to tell it.  I do think it will turn out ok for them.

My only accident was at the light in Charamicos.  On my V-Star, heavy sloww traffic. Going about 15 mph when a large dog darted into traffic,  impossible to swerve as I was boxed in nor stop in time. My foot peg struck his neck. I pulled over as soon as I could. The dog was dead, the Amet officer who saw it happen told me in Spanish, Perro falta usted va ahorra.  Gracias & away I went.  The locals standing around yelled "bravo Polacia"!  I'm sure that he let me go because the traffic was so bad.  As it was, the brief stop created a huge jam up of cars & trucks etc. Not bad for 8+ years of constanr car & bike travel around the island.  I raced bikes & cars in my youth so am a very defensive driver.  But, when the tree decides to fall on you, it is your fate to endure it.  To know that you are OK gives my heart a smile.

Thanks Gypsy....

This is a some of the reasons I shake my head when a first time tourist wants to know if it is ok to rent a car...who are they kidding????

Bob K

And the answer has to be NO don't do it. You have no idea what you are in for.

This morning we went back to the courthouse,  met with the fiscal/ prosecutor whose aim is to resolve this.   The mother of this young man showed up as well.   My immediate thought was she looked tired and I felt bad for her.  She  said that her son was driving too fast and stupid, all she wanted was some help with the medical costs.  The fiscal told her she needs to speak with my insurance company and they will resolve things.

Then she wanted no part of that, doesn't care about fixing his motorcycle just wanted to leave.  The fiscal made her stay.   

Ended up we left with the papers to get my vehicle out of the AMET hold and then get it repaired.   

Apparently this young man  has  4 years to file a claim against me but then would have to have proof. NO one investigated or did anything.

Now the insurance takes over, they supplied me with a lawyer - WHO ARRIVED 40 MINUTES LATE -   I spoke with her to tell her the family is calling me asking for money.   And they will handle it all!  Yayyyy.

May I ask Planner now that you don't intend to drive anymore, what will you do. Will you hire a driver or use a taxi. I have been fortunate to have good drivers driving for me in the different countries I have been in, except for 1 time. If you hire a driver but own the car, I don't see the problems changing. If you hire a taxi, then you put yourself at the mercy of the driver and his equipment. Once you set yourself down in the back (or front) seat of a taxi, it may be to late to change your destiny. On 1 occasion I found myself in the back seat of a car, (not a taxi but the driver of my customer), no seatbelts and doing 100MPH on a city street at 2AM. Despite asking him 2 times to slow down, all he would do was drive faster. The next time he was to pick me up, I refused to get in the car.
On my next trip to DR I was planning to rent a car. I prefer to by in control rather than giving control to someone I don't know, but now I will have to re-think my view.
Gypsy, you are very brave to drive a motorcycle.

If a Dominican is driving it becomes a different set of rules.  The insurance on the vehicle is in place, its the driver who changes things. As foreigners we are treated differently.   

I intend to have a driver, always.  I use the company vehicles and now will have a company driver at my disposal.  It just is not worth the grief if something happens.   IF you are not driving they do not come after you!  Its that simple.

As to out of control drivers -  I won't get in the car with them.   They won 't slow down - I get out. I've done that with taxis in Santo Domingo!  No way I am risking my life for some moron. 

For those who continue to drive here -  cool,  its all about know the options and choosing.  I respect everyone's choices.  What is critical is knowing the options, the consequences and then making a decision. 

I've driven here for  12 years and now I am done. I spent 2 nights not knowing how serious were the injuries to this young man.  IF he had died then I would be in JAIL.  And sometimes you can stay in jail for weeks!  And this accident was not my fault but I would still go to jail. This has pressed home the ramifications of driving here and I have a reasonable alternative I am going to take.

Uber is here, use it.

Riding a bike has nothing to do with bravery. It has everything to do with the freedom of choice. I use a car when distance, weather or other conditions indicate the need for a car. Sometimes I just feel like it.

Planner I hope this puts an end to it for you.

Every day it isclike a live video game!

Bob K

Thanks Bob I sure hope so.  Now start a drama with the insurance company......And I have 10 days of dental vehicle BUT not until we get a quote from repair shop that is accepted.  Oh my here we go......

We got our quote in one day as the "adjuster" met us at the body shop the day after the accident and I had our rental the same day.

We also had 10 days but some of the parts took two weeks and they extended the rental with no questions asked.  The insurance company was actually the easy part of the "fix"

Bob K

We dont know bob

Planner I am so happy that you are OK

Thanks Bob gives me hope. Thanks Argentina......

You are welcome and again so lucky!

Bob K

Renting a car for my three week stay in Dec. Hired a local transport driver. Made it clear I was interested in arriving at destinations with little drama. Made sure they have current ID and license to drive. The senora thinks I do fine driving. Boy do I have her fooled. Even though I drive a school bus in a busy city, the dynamic here in the DR, is completely different. Confidence will get you into trouble here.

I really have no desire to drive here. Glad you and the man are ok. they come at you from everywhere here.. I close my eyes and pray sometimes when my family is driving. They are crazy, I have gone through maybe a dozen red lights in the usa my entire life. , here that's one day. Your post is informative, I never had those issues. good luck., .

Thank you guys!

Good luck planner,
I am new here and have been posting mainly on french board as I speak both languages.

I have rented a car 7 times x10 (average) days for vacation in RD. Done all the country. Never had even a scratch. I always take full CDW insurance at the rental company which doubles the cost of renting but I feel it is a peace of mind. Most of locals drive bad but not all are reckless. IMHO I think bad condition of the roads and lack of signals play also a role. In your case though it seems that the guy was an idiot and now family turing this into opportunity for some money.

It is not about arguing driving in RD is cool, but I have driven in Eastern Europe (ex communist countries) and it is worse than RD.

Eri welcome to our forum and you are correct in most of what you have posted.  However I too have driven all over the world and it the worst and most dangerous here in the DR.

We just got the honor of being the most dangerous place in the world to drive by the WHO and just yesterday the government here posted that there are more deaths here in the DR because of motor accidents than any disease including heart disease, Diabetes, cancer or any other cause.    Pretty scary.

Bob K

Thanks Bob K.

I have heard the same about Colombia, Venezuela..

I have never felt insecure driving in RD expect that it is very stressful because you need to have 4 eyes and look constanly everywhere (dear mirrors..). BTW the next time I will not settle for anything else than a SUV because the speed reducers on the road (policia acostada) keeps me really sick and tired. Some of them are almost invisible and can break the car in 2 pieces if you miss them.

Anyways best of luck to planner and I hope she gets everything fixed soon.

Bob are there any attempts at promoting or implementing a national awareness program of some degree regarding driving safety? I'm just too busy and tired here lately to write, however, just like we sent young men off to war, families pool resources just to aquire a moto or transport car so one of their loved ones can begin to bring a bigger bite to the table. It is total desperation this country is in. If we want to enjoy its economical benifit, then we need find our own way to survive their desperation. Its called, "stay out of the way". From sex to stitches, they pay dearly for just about anything they have.

Good points.   I will say that anyone who has not "yet" had an accident  -  well the  statistics are against you -  it is likely to happen.

At any given point other countries can claim the number spot on  road fatalities.  Who cares -  we are always in the top 10 I am sure.   

There is little respect for life or rules.  There is an attitude of "God will protect me"  and if its my time its my time. Well bloody hell, its not MY time....... 

Lack of signs, lack of enforcement,  way too much eye pollution (signs, lights, crap all over the place, confusing signs etc )  and disregard for current driving conditions (rain, dark etc)  makes this a really challenging place to drive. 

Critical - how you are treated IF there is an accident:

1.  it will always be your fault - you are a foreigner
2.  when it happens you will not know what "should" happen next.
3. It is not your country, your customs, your laws
4. do not expect an "investigation" all that will be on you.
5. you will be seen as a walking wallet and in some cases the  savior of an entire family.
6. at the scene of the accident things can get very dangerous for you, mob mentality kicks in. 

I will make this point again - if you are in an accident and you feel unsafe or threatened immediately go to the nearest police station or emergency room.

Update on my case:

Car was released from AMET,  of course that took  2 more  visits to the Traffic court as they did NOT issue us the proper documentation.

Car was taken to the  repair shop - took 2 days to get a quote done.  Quote was sent to insurance company who is in process of approving it. I don't yet have a copy, will find that today I hope.

ONCE the quote is approved apparently I can get a rental vehicle for 10 days.  I needed it for the last  4 days! 

Work wise we are swamped -  owner is here and we are  finalizing our processing facility - I need to write another thread for that - and today we start harvesting!!!  Yup that vehicle is missed and needed.

The wheels are turning and as usual very slowly.  Be happy that they are turning and in fact seem to be turning in a forward direction

Bob K

"Critical - how you are treated IF there is an accident:

1.  it will always be your fault - you are a foreigner
2.  when it happens you will not know what "should" happen next.
3. It is not your country, your customs, your laws
4. do not expect an "investigation" all that will be on you.
5. you will be seen as a walking wallet and in some cases the  savior of an entire family.
6. at the scene of the accident things can get very dangerous for you, mob mentality kicks in. 

I will make this point again - if you are in an accident and you feel unsafe or threatened immediately go to the nearest police station or emergency room"

All true.  I might add that our lawyer said (very respected firm in this country) gave me his personal cell (on speed dial) and if in an accident try to leave go home and call him.

Bob K

Only good Bob IF  you have your lawyers number, IF he answers the phone......    BUT always  have someone's number who you know will be able to help you.

I immediately called 2 employees who were close by to come and be with me in case of problems.

Another note -  my spanish is fairly fluent but not perfect.  Under this kind of stress -  it left!  I could not string a proper sentence together for about  5 hours!  It was critical I had someone with me who was fluent in English and Spanish!  It was a huge comfort to me.

Glad it is going well for you planner.

Sometimes life is a lottery. I just returned yestreday in Paris and found the terror of islamic attacs. Thanks God I wasn't out yesterday but we are so sad about the innocent people who passed away. Be thankful you don't have issues with islamic sh1t in RD. (Sorry for out of topic).

From my "little" experience of RD (I go there 2-3 times a year), it seems to boil down to IF you have a good attorney because nothing works like in Western Countries even if in your case Insurance is working well so far. Do you have a SLI coverage (Supplmentary Liability coverage) which pays to whatever is considered damage to others? That works even if you are considered faulty.

I had 2 cases where local people have had a positive reaction: I had a deflated tyre once in middle of nowhere and a guy stopped to help me to change it because the tyre-lift in the car was broken. He got his tyre lift from his car and changed my tyre himslef. He was about to leave and didn't ask for a dime so I gave him a 500 pesos bill to thank him. Another time children were playing in a street and one threw a stone which touched the side of my car. I stopped to see what happened when his father was out shouting at the child and gave him a hard smack in the face. Luckily the impact on the car was almost invisible and it didn't touch the glasses.

On the other hand I can relate that the RD culture is so destiny-oriented. If someone dies it is his destiny and if not it is the destiny as well. That makes them careless or worse reckless. Add the aclohol to that and it makes potential danger everywhere. As they drink alcohol mostly after work at night, I avoid to drive at night even I have done it for short drive (going out at Disco or bars).

We all have  many many feel good stories!  The country is full of really excellent people.  BUT  when the latino passion ignites against you or against something no good lawyer in the world is going to save you!

This gentleman I met at the AMET station and later again at the traffic court, was held at the courthouse an additional  5 hour as there were 80 people outside looking for him!    IF that happened at the accident site then it would be game over!

They  exact judgement immediately in the heat of the moment sometimes. I watched it when a group of locals chased a "thief" up a hill,  they caught him and beat the crap out of him.  The police stood at the bottom of the hill and watched. That was over a pair of sneakers!  Imagine a loss of life. No thanks.

And as to the events last night-  it breaks my heart to see what is going on in this world!