What to do if you inadvertently run over a person

[josh2203]

I was wondering. What happens if your vehicle has a problem, for example you have a tyre blowout and you accidently kill someone. So it is an accident which isn't your fault, but someone dies. Do you still get locked up?

Not commenting on what would happen in the DR in this case, but generally speaking, unless this problem with the vehicle occurred evidently due to road damage etc. shortly before the accident, if your vehicle has a problem, that is actually your fault as far as I know. So unless you could not avoid your tire to get damaged due to bad road etc just before the accident, then most likely you started driving with bad tire and hence your vehicle is not road-worthy...

As said, the above is not really DR related in the sense that many people in the DR do not care if their vehicle is or is not road worthy, I'm just saying in general...

I've seen many news stories where trucks kill people due to "loss of control" due to malfunctioning brakes etc, those are all driver/operator fault I think.

 

[jd426]

No one has Mentioned Dash cams yet ... Does Dash cam Video EVIDENCE Help at all ?
or do you still go to Jail .. do you still get fleeced.
What about a Countersuit, . if you also got hurt, and it was not your fault . can you sue the Family of the Guilty who is deceased ?
Not for gaining anything financially but just to keep them in their place .

 

[Notengo]

Dashcam example

 

[Seamonkey]

I personally know three people who have killed a Dominican while driving in the Puerto Plata province. Three separate occasions. None of them went to jail.
One paid USD $60k to the family and nothing further happened. The second was a couple from Canada, they were released from the local holding cell until the trial. They fled back home via Haiti. The third was another Canadian. After hitting the motoconcho on the highway, he went straight to the police. They kept him in jail overnight for his protection and took his Canadian passport. He was released the next morning. The family (lawyer) wanted USD$50k, he offered 30k and the lawyer said no. He had to report to the Sosua police office every 30 days to sign in until his trial. He wanted to make things right with the family and the lawyer still refused the 30K. He got fed up and left the country using his Scottish passport and never returned. So, you don't always (rarely) go to jail if you are willing to pay.

 

[Gadfly]

In the RD you are guilty until proven innocent. That’s why there’s chapis here.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

No one has Mentioned Dash cams yet ... Does Dash cam Video EVIDENCE Help at all ?
or do you still go to Jail .. do you still get fleeced.
What about a Countersuit, . if you also got hurt, and it was not your fault . can you sue the Family of the Guilty who is deceased ?
Not for gaining anything financially but just to keep them in their place .

I avoid driving in D.R., but it's unavoidable when going off the beaten path. I take my dash cam from home with me which has front and rear cameras. I've never had an accident so I can't tell you if it would count as evidence, but it can't hurt - especially if someone is trying to shake me down.

Mi amiga is a lawyer who does per diem legal work for the city. Her advice on gringo civil suits is don't waste your ink. If they're broke you'll never collect, and if they're rich they're probably connected.

 

[bob saunders]

I personally know three people who have killed a Dominican while driving in the Puerto Plata province. Three separate occasions. None of them went to jail.
One paid USD $60k to the family and nothing further happened. The second was a couple from Canada, they were released from the local holding cell until the trial. They fled back home via Haiti. The third was another Canadian. After hitting the motoconcho on the highway, he went straight to the police. They kept him in jail overnight for his protection and took his Canadian passport. He was released the next morning. The family (lawyer) wanted USD$50k, he offered 30k and the lawyer said no. He had to report to the Sosua police office every 30 days to sign in until his trial. He wanted to make things right with the family and the lawyer still refused the 30K. He got fed up and left the country using his Scottish passport and never returned. So, you don't always (rarely) go to jail if you are willing to pay.

One of our clients at the school. Ran over a drunk passed out on the road. This happened outside of Constanza and apparently this guy had passed out numerous times on or near that corner. He spent about 6 weeks in jail, while his family was getting money together to pay off the family. I believe they paid a million pesos.

 

[MariaRubia]

He just wanted your digits!

I remember in the pandemic I was walking down the Malecon with a (female) friend. Suddenly a group of police on motos pull in front of us tell us to stop, quite menancing, they weren't messing around. Told us to produce our ID's which we did. Ask us where we are going, were we aware of the Toque de Queda hours (we were outside at a permitted time), one of them asked if I lived in DR, what I did for a job, where I lived. Then he asked who I lived with, at that stage I was single and when I said I lived alone, he said "y no tienes novio?". And it became clear that the whole thing was just because they wanted to flirt with a gringa rubia, nothing to do with policing.

 

[MariaRubia]

One of our clients at the school. Ran over a drunk passed out on the road. This happened outside of Constanza and apparently this guy had passed out numerous times on or near that corner. He spent about 6 weeks in jail, while his family was getting money together to pay off the family. I believe they paid a million pesos.

I remember a story from the dim and distant past of a Brit in Punta Cana who collided with a kid on a moto, he was completely drunk at night on a bike with no lights and literally crossed in front of her, she couldn't possibly stop. They put an impedimenta salida in her passport, but she was free to do what she wanted to do apart from leave the country. Various court cases, the insurance paid out to the family I think something like RD$ 1M from memory but then a chick came along said he was the father of their kid, and then various others kept rocking along and saying she had to pay. Her mother got ill with cancer and she was desperate to leave the country and I think at the end of the day she ended up paying many tens of thousands of dollars just to settle it. I remember being told the story a long time ago, does this ring a bell with any other long-term DR1'ers?

 

[cavok]

"but then a chick came along said he was the father of their kid". This sounds like a US story(?).

 

[MariaRubia]

"but then a chick came along said he was the father of their kid". This sounds like a US story(?).

Sorry I wrote chica and it autocorrected. I'm sure you could work out what I meant.

 

[slowmo]

Sorry I wrote chica and it autocorrected. I'm sure you could work out what I meant.

Now I'm confused.

 

[MoJoInDR]

Why would anyone want to live in a country that seems to promote malfeasance as an acceptable lifestyle?

 

[SKY]

Why would anyone want to live in a country that seems to promote malfeasance as an acceptable lifestyle?

Ask the people living in the Country North of here................

 

[Seamonkey]

I remember a story from the dim and distant past of a Brit in Punta Cana who collided with a kid on a moto, he was completely drunk at night on a bike with no lights and literally crossed in front of her, she couldn't possibly stop. They put an impedimenta salida in her passport, but she was free to do what she wanted to do apart from leave the country. Various court cases, the insurance paid out to the family I think something like RD$ 1M from memory but then a chick came along said he was the father of their kid, and then various others kept rocking along and saying she had to pay. Her mother got ill with cancer and she was desperate to leave the country and I think at the end of the day she ended up paying many tens of thousands of dollars just to settle it. I remember being told the story a long time ago, does this ring a bell with any other long-term DR1'ers?

If the insurance paid out, the family would have signed a release form enabling them to seek further money from the accused. The form is stands as per the court system.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Why would anyone want to live in a country that seems to promote malfeasance as an acceptable lifestyle?

The climate is the draw for most expats and years ago, it was less violent and a much cheaper place to live. Not a place for the naive or gullible but for those who make the effort to stay street smart and culture wise, there are work arounds to make life easy here for expats. Not driving lowers the risk of accidents and rip offs significantly. So does being selective about where you live, who you let into your house, how you dress, and, if you have to drive, what kind of car you drive. Keeping a low profile and not wearing bling are important as well as who you choose as your friends.

Some of these things you would do anyway in many large urban centres in North America. Many of them you would do in other foreign countries. Lower your expectations and don’t expect to have the same rights you would have back home. To quote Memes, “Always look at things in the DR with a gimlet eye”. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen the police dragging off drunken AI tourists screaming about their rights.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Ask the people living in the Country North of here................

Another disgruntled Medicare B recipient🤷‍♂️

 

[Tom0910]

If your car was standing still and someone dies you would still get locked up................

This actually happened to someone I know. He was at the light in Cabarete waiting for the light to turn and a moto t-boned his car and died. It cost him $75,000.usd....

 

[Tom0910]

You can expect more than 3 years in jail if you are convicted of killing someone with a car regardless of how it occurred or who's fault it really was. This is another reason I don't drive down here unless I have too.

The happiest day I had in the DR was the day I sold my two cars and started walking or taking taxis.

 

[MoJoInDR]

Ask the people living in the Country North of here................

No need to ask, I live in a country north of the DR... But we don't have people who stop driving and sell their cars because they are afraid of being ripped off in an environment that the government seems to allow.