Cop hit me

[irishpaddy]

if he had any decency .....after he found out who you are and what you had done ...the right thing would have been to return the money .
He should not get a pass

 

[josh2203]

Agree that all Dominicans are not the same. It depends on who you surround yourself with. I can't speak for Lindsey but maybe it was a matter of paying something just to keep it simple.

I could be mistaken but from the context I understood that the poster monfongo was only referring to PN officials, not Dominicans, in which case I agree.

 

[windeguy]

So now he says I have to pay it all. Corruption at its best. And of course the police are involved.

I would pay nothing. It was his fault.

 

[chico bill]

I was told by friends to avoid hitting a rooster if I came across one on the road. The owner would claim it was a prize fighting rooster and expect a small fortune in compensation for it. Never had the opportunity to use that advice. The cows, potholes and motos were my main concern. Always tried to get off the roads before dark.

This was also what happened is you hit a camel in Eastern Saudi Arabia - suddenly it became a champion racing camel. Of course it was your fault - if you survived the collision

 

[Ecoman1949]

Where I live in Canada drivers are used to ducking and diving around moose, caribou, deer, porcupines, and skunks. Dangerous enough in a car but extremely dangerous on a motorcycle. It did give me an edge when I started driving in the DR. I wish the DR campo roads were the same quality as ours. I had very close calls on those roads.

One minor collision with a moto at the intersection in POP as I came off the malecon heading towards Jumbo is not bad considering I’ve been beating the North coast roads for 17 winters in ratty Kia Picantos.

 

[Ecoman1949]

This was also what happened is you hit a camel in Eastern Saudi Arabia - suddenly it became a champion racing camel. Of course it was your fault - if you survived the collision

Camels are like moose. High on their legs. If you hit one, they end up sliding on your bonnet and crashing through your windshield. Deadly!

 

[windeguy]

Camels are like moose. High on their legs. If you hit one, they end up sliding on your bonnet and crashing through your windshield. Deadly!

Thankfully, we don't have such options in the DR.

People with simian brain level activity do abound. Like the PN person paid in pesos.

 

[drstock]

I was told by friends to avoid hitting a rooster if I came across one on the road. The owner would claim it was a prize fighting rooster and expect a small fortune in compensation for it. Never had the opportunity to use that advice. The cows, potholes and motos were my main concern. Always tried to get off the roads before dark.

I think that could be true about hitting a rooster and having to pay a fortune (if they can catch you). My friend had a dog that allegedly killed a rooster (no evidence given) and he took her to the fiscal where she had to pay that fortune because that rooster was supposedly a prize fighter.

 

[melphis]

I'm glad that you (and the chicken are ok). I think the best thing here is that for approx $130 USD you are done with this clown. He could have gone on about how you brake checked him and he has all sorts of internal injuries from the collision and needs all sorts of medical care (from his expert cousin who happens to specialize in this type of injury).

You did great in having him sign a receipt. Now you should find his boss, show him the receipt and ask why his vehicle has not been repaired. These are the reasons that make the DR as corrupt as it is. As I said I'm glad you are OK and you get a great story to tell.

 

[johne]

Silly question: why negotiate with him? Insurance will have BOTH of you show up for a hearing. If he doesn't show up...you win.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

So this happened today. I was driving down the mountain to Cabarete. In Los Brazos
Is a sharp curve. I slowed down, and then just on the curve a chicken ran out in front of me. I touched the brake not to hit it and a National Police in an old jalopy hit me from behind.

I stopped and got out of the car. My car had no damage, but his bumper was broken- it was the plastic kind and his hood had a dent.

He also got out and started yelling at me,
Saying it was my fault. I kept repeating
“But you hit me.” He continued to be angry and told me to get my papers.

I told him that he must talk to me kindly…..all in a very calm voice. Then I told him I wanted to make a phone call. He asked who I was calling and I told him the alcalde- who happens to be a very close friend.

No one answered his phone so I called
our maintenance man who is the Alcalde’s brother.

He came, asked what happened. Said it was the cop’s fault since he hit me from behind. Then he went to talk to the police.

He came back to my car and asked me what I want to do. I asked what the repairs would cost. He said between 4,000-8,000 pesos. I said the police should go get a quote from the man who does this kind of repairs in Jamao and I would pay half.

The cop must have agreed. He started up his car and was on his way.

It is times like this that I do not like this country. It seems that often when others make mistakes here, I have to pay the price and make them right.

totally different mindset here that's why I know a lot of people are moving back to their own countries after five or six seven eight years you can deal with it the first three or four years you think everything is cool but after a while you realize that you're up against people with no education it's tough to deal with and if you don't have too why would you....

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Silly question: why negotiate with him? Insurance will have BOTH of you show up for a hearing. If he doesn't show up...you win.

Honestly, it was a bad experience and i just wanted to move beyond it. I have a friend here who has taken many people to court over the years.

She sees things as black and white and if someone has done her an injustice, she goes to her lawyer.

Her cases go on and on for years. Sometimes she wins, sometimes not.

I would not want to carry that emotional baggage for long periods. It is now behind me and I believe somewhere, someday, the man will experience karma.

 

[RDKNIGHT]

As my dear father-in-law said to me a long time ago, stay away from the PN, they are the lowest of the lowest... Incompetency at it's purest... Had we had that vehicle even relatively close behind us, my wife would have ordered (yes, ordered) me to stop and let it pass...

I like your wifes way of thinking you are not going to win here homefield advantage

 

[RDKNIGHT]

I like driving around this country, but the one thing that really worried me is that if I have an accident it will be my fault because I'm a gringo. If you have a collision with a cop, the outcome is even more certain.

100% Driving while Gringo

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Honestly, it was a bad experience and i just wanted to move beyond it. I have a friend here who has taken many people to court over the years.

She sees things as black and white and if someone has done her an injustice, she goes to her lawyer.

Her cases go on and on for years. Sometimes she wins, sometimes not.

I would not want to carry that emotional baggage for long periods. It is now behind me and I believe somewhere, someday, the man will experience karma.

Just pay and put it in the rear view mirror... God will repay you in many ways!!!!

 

[JLSawmam]

Honestly, it was a bad experience and i just wanted to move beyond it. I have a friend here who has taken many people to court over the years.

She sees things as black and white and if someone has done her an injustice, she goes to her lawyer.

Her cases go on and on for years. Sometimes she wins, sometimes not.

I would not want to carry that emotional baggage for long periods. It is now behind me and I believe somewhere, someday, the man will experience karma.

I've known some people here with that "I will take you to the fiscal" attitude - you are so right, who needs that!

 

[malko]

I've known some people here with that "I will take you to the fiscal" attitude - you are so right, who needs that!

Honestly, I may have gone the fiscal route.
Especially because the guy/PN was rude.

I am guessing Lyndsey is respected and respectful in her community and chances are the fiscal could have sided with her.
Then I would have proceeded to tell the guy/PN--- in front of fiscal/fiscaleria--- that I will pay for the damages.
Not because the PN raised his voice/bullied me into it, but for the good of the community.


And yeah, it's easy to say/write this behind a computer screen, and I would only really know how I would handle it if this happened to me---- God forbid.

It also helps that I am in a small Campo, where people know each other and the fiscal is accessible. In a larger town I would have just paid a couple thousand pesos to make the problem disappear.

 

[2020]

In the Dominican republic, you are always at fault when a police vehicle is damaged in an accident. That's the unwritten law

 

[windeguy]

Dominicans know that a gringo/gringa will cave on such ridiculous demands when it is really the Dominicans fault.

I understand why they relent, but it should not happen. The "no es me culpa" fault runs deep.

 

[josh2203]

Silly question: why negotiate with him? Insurance will have BOTH of you show up for a hearing. If he doesn't show up...you win.

You might win on paper but as the case is that the other party is a corrupted PN officer, that would mean nothing to me (they might continue have you in their mind etc etc), best ever advise below by Lindsey:

Honestly, it was a bad experience and i just wanted to move beyond it.

I would not want to carry that emotional baggage for long periods. It is now behind me and I believe somewhere, someday, the man will experience karma.