So here is the story. I was driving down the road, put my turn signal on and turn left into a parking lot in Cabrera when I get t-boned by a motorcycle. When this happened the front tires of my vehicle were already entering the parking lot. The motorcycle was attempting to pass me and it slammed into the left hand side of the vehicle at a 90 degree angle. I get out of the vehicle and the motorcycle driver was claiming it was my fault. He said 'you have to pay for my damage.' I said, 'Ok, I'll pay for yours and you pay for mine.' He didn't seem to like that deal. I then said 'Well, let's just forget about it.' He didn't like that one either and said that we would go to the police to settle things. I said, ok, lets go.
So we get to the police station. Turns out the kid has no cedula, no license, and no insurance; no papers whatsoever. I show the amet officer (Eddy Brito) my license, revista, matricula, insurance, etc. Then the police begin to tell me how it was my fault and I should give the guy some money. Even people who are just driving by the police station tell me I should just give the infeliz money. (I should just start giving money away to everyone that crashes into me, right?) The other driver begins to make up stories about how he didn't damage my vehicle and that my vehicle was already damaged, etc.
The other driver just won't let it go and wants to 'levantar el acta' Around this time my wife arrives at the police station and we call the insurance. The insurance says not to pay a cent to anyone and they will send a lawyer to handle everything. A little later Eddy Brito (the amet guy) says we NEED to pay him to legalize the diagnosis of the other driver in Nagua. I told my wife to call the lawyer and then Brito says we pay if we WANT to. Crooked cop.
Cabrera is so small that police knew the driver by name. When they called the fiscalia they mentioned him by first name as well. This got me a little nervious, since everyone seemed to know this guy.
A few days later we get a call from Eddy Bruto errrr Eddy Brito that the guy wants to drop all charges. My wife and I decided we didn't want to, since the insurance requires a legalized police report to claim damages. The next day we get a lawyer from Nagua assigned to us. As soon as I found out he was from Nagua I knew things were going downhill. The first phone conversation we had with him he started asking for gas money. We again called Banreservas and they were really upset about this one and said not to pay a cent to anyone. It turns out that the lawyer is actually from pepin insurance. Banreservas actually subs out these cases to them in our area. It turns out the lawyer knows Eddy Brito and when the two met they actually had some secret handshake. My wife and I just shook our heads.
To wrap up the story, after 3 visits to the fiscalia we finally got the report done. There were a few good things I learned throughout all of this. Some of which may be helpful to others here in the forum. First of all, even if you have good/full insurance you need to find out where the lawyer is coming from and who he works for. You don't want a 200 peso lawyer defending you. Especially when he doesn't like you because you won't give him gas money. Second, never ever ever give anyone a cent. The moment you give them $ you are admitting guilt. They will come back again and again trying to suck more and more $ out of you. Third, do it all legal with a police report; It is not uncommon for the other driver to come back a week later with a sore neck, a sore back, and a different version of the story.
Nothing ever happened to the other driver. In fact, when we were waiting at the fiscalia we saw him zoom right through the stop sign out front. So basically you can drive here in Cabrera with no papers, insurance, or license and absolutely NOTHING will happen to you. I asked both the lawyer and the fiscalia how can this be? They both said 'este es un pais sub-desarollado donde no se cumple la ley' I asked them what will it take for this guy to be thrown in jail or fined? Do they have to wait until he perhaps runs into someone and kills them? Perhaps their own child? Not even a reaction.
Now I am wondering if it is even worth it to pay 30,000 a year on insurance and have a license here. No one else does! This experience was a real wake-up call for my wife as well. She never knew how bad the system really was. She's Dominican and from the capital and she was in disbelief.:disappoin
Coastline
So we get to the police station. Turns out the kid has no cedula, no license, and no insurance; no papers whatsoever. I show the amet officer (Eddy Brito) my license, revista, matricula, insurance, etc. Then the police begin to tell me how it was my fault and I should give the guy some money. Even people who are just driving by the police station tell me I should just give the infeliz money. (I should just start giving money away to everyone that crashes into me, right?) The other driver begins to make up stories about how he didn't damage my vehicle and that my vehicle was already damaged, etc.
The other driver just won't let it go and wants to 'levantar el acta' Around this time my wife arrives at the police station and we call the insurance. The insurance says not to pay a cent to anyone and they will send a lawyer to handle everything. A little later Eddy Brito (the amet guy) says we NEED to pay him to legalize the diagnosis of the other driver in Nagua. I told my wife to call the lawyer and then Brito says we pay if we WANT to. Crooked cop.
Cabrera is so small that police knew the driver by name. When they called the fiscalia they mentioned him by first name as well. This got me a little nervious, since everyone seemed to know this guy.
A few days later we get a call from Eddy Bruto errrr Eddy Brito that the guy wants to drop all charges. My wife and I decided we didn't want to, since the insurance requires a legalized police report to claim damages. The next day we get a lawyer from Nagua assigned to us. As soon as I found out he was from Nagua I knew things were going downhill. The first phone conversation we had with him he started asking for gas money. We again called Banreservas and they were really upset about this one and said not to pay a cent to anyone. It turns out that the lawyer is actually from pepin insurance. Banreservas actually subs out these cases to them in our area. It turns out the lawyer knows Eddy Brito and when the two met they actually had some secret handshake. My wife and I just shook our heads.
To wrap up the story, after 3 visits to the fiscalia we finally got the report done. There were a few good things I learned throughout all of this. Some of which may be helpful to others here in the forum. First of all, even if you have good/full insurance you need to find out where the lawyer is coming from and who he works for. You don't want a 200 peso lawyer defending you. Especially when he doesn't like you because you won't give him gas money. Second, never ever ever give anyone a cent. The moment you give them $ you are admitting guilt. They will come back again and again trying to suck more and more $ out of you. Third, do it all legal with a police report; It is not uncommon for the other driver to come back a week later with a sore neck, a sore back, and a different version of the story.
Nothing ever happened to the other driver. In fact, when we were waiting at the fiscalia we saw him zoom right through the stop sign out front. So basically you can drive here in Cabrera with no papers, insurance, or license and absolutely NOTHING will happen to you. I asked both the lawyer and the fiscalia how can this be? They both said 'este es un pais sub-desarollado donde no se cumple la ley' I asked them what will it take for this guy to be thrown in jail or fined? Do they have to wait until he perhaps runs into someone and kills them? Perhaps their own child? Not even a reaction.
Now I am wondering if it is even worth it to pay 30,000 a year on insurance and have a license here. No one else does! This experience was a real wake-up call for my wife as well. She never knew how bad the system really was. She's Dominican and from the capital and she was in disbelief.:disappoin
Coastline