Car accident yesterday!

Planner, glad to hear things are working out for you
so well. It could have gone the other way very easily.
Yes, you are a pretty & VERY LUCKY Lady.
I think Gypsy is in love & Greg is engaged.
& I am a lucky married man.
We do adapt our living, thinking & behavior in our new country.
Tom.

Thanks honey.  And yes we must adapt our thinking and behavior....

Tomas, being in love is a bit far-fetched, but ,   I'm sure have a big case of like!   Reality & fantasy ........ "never the twain shall meet   And that truth brings much dismay to the old dudes who believe that the young girl is in love with them & not the potential improvement in their lives.  So yes, I LIKE Darlene!  Sometime I'll tell how the Tuba & the Grizzly came together. It is a tale of a naked young man on hands & knees, rooting aroung in a vegetable garden & the State Trooper.

You're more than welcome Darlene!
Gypsy, love is a beautiful mix of
reality & fantasy! They have met in my relationship
with Catalina! Really, not a day goes by that I don't
look up & say gracias to our Creator for our existence here.
You can tell me the griz story over a pail of Presidente at Mannys
in a couple of months?
Tom.

It will take more than one pail to tell the tale. It is pretty funny & serious at the same time.

Planner, so sorry to hear about the car accident, but, glad u are okay!  Is there no insurance we can buy that will prevent us from going to jail when involved in a mva where we are not at fault?  What about Mapfre?

All insurance will have the option of picking up "case de conductore" which puts you in a  hotel instead of jail.  Well worth every penny

Bob K

Is the hotel an all-inclusive Bob?

Good one!

Yes All inclusive,  bed, private bath, semi clean linins.  However no food or alcohol but it is 5* compared to any DR jail

Bob K

Then it's not AI.
I will drive careful, as always here.
No driving at night outside of Cabrera.

You can be as careful as you can be until some asshole on a moto darts out of a side street right in front of you or decides to make a left turn from the right side of the road right in front of you.  Or you are making a left turn and forget to look at the right and another moto asshole is coming at from the right on the wrong side of the street talking on his cell phone.

Sometimes  you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rumor has is that a moto asshole was killed this morning in front of Baileys restaurant in Sosua.  Here they are constantly going the wrong way on the one way street on the wrong side of the road and not looking out for anything.

No respect for life... so sad

Bob K

Tomas, thanks for the # 5    will forward.

@BobK
>Rumor has is that a moto asshole was killed this morning in front of Baileys restaurant in Sosua.  Here they are >constantly going the wrong way on the one way street on the wrong side of the road

Yeah no surprise there if true.  That street is one of the worst. Nearly learned that the hard way when I first came here. Being used to people obeying traffic laws l  never considered that some dumb ass would blatantly ride down one way street wrong way- and at high speed.
Nearly got hit by the bastard, as I only looked one way it being one way street.
Well,  one lives and learns...  Now always look both ways on one way streets because you just dont know when one of these suicidal assholes, decides to play life or death.

Hell, I look both ways crossing a railroad track.

Mmh, Probably wise- rumor has it, being hit by a train can be somewhat detrimental to ones health :-)

Bob is completely correct. My  accident was  100% this stupid kids fault. I am lucky he is alive or I would have been in jail. And yes I have casa de conductor coverage.  I have seem the place in Santo Domingo - not 5 starts but  500% better then jail let me tell you!

As Bob K said "Sometimes  you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” A couple of weeks a gringo (as in non-Dominican) put himself in between 2 girls (both Dominicans) who were fighting. One of the girls, (the one who started the fight, I'll call her "A") slipped and hit her head against the pavement. The next day, a Saturday, she went to the fiscal and accused him of hitting her. Even though there was a lot of witnesses, including girl "B", stating the truth that " A" slipped and hit her head and that he never touched her. Well he was promptly put on jail. With the help of some influential friends (and many some money changing hands, I'm not to sure about that part), they took his passport, he was able to go home but was told not to leave town until the Monday when the prosecutor was going to be there. In fact girl "B" was told the same thing, she was as a result unable to go to Santiago to get the medical treatment she needed for her head concussion. She was in fact more hurt in the fight than girl "A". On the Monday he was given a choice, if he wanted to dispute the case he would have to go to jail until his case came up (which could take 6 months) or he could just pay her. So he ended up paying her RD$25,000.00 plus about another RD$10,000.00 to others.
Anyway even off of the road it can be a problem here in this country. So we can all decide where we want to be. No place is safe, there are problems and danger veverywhere in the world. In the US your neighbour/friend will sue you after slipping on your front step. In South Africa, your car is going to be highjacked and your will be lucky if they don't shot you on the process. In Paris you will get shot will attending a concert. Etc, etc... Where do you want to be? Are you going to live in constant fear? Are you going to stop living life to the fullest?
I love this country, in general the people are very friendly and helpful. We need to remember that we are only visors here.

Good post!!!!

Good posts and not surprising at all.

Many look at gringos as a way to win the lottery.

Bob K

Viro 60...
I like your "visor" comment.
A true double meaning there, not a spelling mistake.
Or was it?
I forgot the real meaning of this use of words.... Greg, you know what I mean.

Thomas Cabrera, LOL... Yes my post is full of typos. I've been using my phone to post and I'm afraid that autocorrect gets the best of me often. I did mean visitor but your right visor kinds of fits too.

Some days you gotta hate autocorrect, especially when you write in  more then one language.....

Vero60 wrote:

As Bob K said "Sometimes  you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Anyway even off of the road it can be a problem here in this country.

Is always the gringo guilty in this country? Hearing you guys, every single time a gringo is involved he is accused whatever the circumstances. Beyond some episodic cases when foreigners are accused with no reason, is that a generality ?

I have rented and travelled with a car 8 times in RD as a tourist. Once in Santo Domingo I stopped in a road to pick my girlfriend and for some reason I slowly reversed the car and hit another car behind me..that was a clumsy move and I was 100% guilty. Well, the guy got out of the car, looked at the front bumper and for miracle there was not even a scratch. Luckily I was very slow..He stayed polite said "No es nada, vale.." and he went away.
Another time I was with a big SUV and had a flat tire near the highway to La Romana, I started to pull out the car jack for changing the tyre when in my surprise that was a small car jack, too small for big SUV tyres. Then out of nowhere a Grua was passing by and stopped. A guy came out and asked me if I needed help. I said yes and asked if he had a big tyre jack. The SUV tyre was really big..He got out of the truck an hydraulic lift, put some wood pieces and had a hard time to change it. Then he was about to go telling me to be careful because there is no road assistance at night..He didn't ask for a dime, but I pulled out a 500 pesos bill and handed that for saying thank you.

Maybe I have just been lucky so far.

Glad that you didnt had any pyschical wounding .

One who realise what it is to be in foreign land when such a events occurs .

My personal humble suggestion is visit the family and him and show your emotions to them sincerely will help to improve the progress .
South america  a land which i lost whatever i had once .

God Bless .

Edojdai

Yes if any damage or injuries the Gringo will be guilty 95% of the time no matter the circumstances.  Especially if a tourist.  With a tourist it will be 98%.

And even if not our fault you will still end up paying something to somebody.

Bob K

I have had similar things happen,  flat tire in the pouring rain. A nice guy on a motorcycle stopped and helped me!  He would not take a peso from me. He said that is what men do,  real men!   

Bob is right 98% of the time it is the expats fault. 

EDOJIDAI - welcome to the forum.  I would never ever suggest going to the family's house and doing anything. We are often seen as a financial ticket out of .... well.... whatever.   AND  if someone decides that it is my fault I am taking my life in my hands by visiting...  Not going to happen. That is much better left int he hands of the lawyers my friend.

Planner well said.
Visit the family.... maybe with an armed escort of 20 or so special forces (US or Canada) and someone to "show" them the error in their ways

Bob K

Talking about driving, I decided this past Sunday to learn driving in the DR. I am no fool and that is why I picked Sunday ! LOL not too many suicidal motos on the road. I started out very slow, just like the people I used to complain about when driving in the US. Well, I am one of them now ! I picked a country road to start with, El Choco road..  yes, I admit, I am a wimp !!! Then, back to Highway 5... drove around Sosua, just a couple of streets and ended up at Super Pola and returned home.
Next Sunday, I will go a little further and for a longer time...
Little by little, i'll get there.. In the meantime, I am so glad to be married to a Parisian who is used to crazy driving and hyper vigilance  but the Dominicans get the medal ! Paris driving is mellow compared to here !

Good for you !   Well done!    My husband and I have decided against driving in the DR since reading these posts.   We will be using taxis and the shuttle bus service provided in our gated community.  Good news , we finally have our permanent resident visas (what a hassle ) and we are on our way to live in Sosua in 2 weeks time!  Can't wait for the hot weather and a mojito!  Cheers!

Good job you will get the hand of it.

Bob K

DiMarsha give it some time and you will be driving as well.

Bob K

Quick update -  its now 6 weeks since my accident,   still waiting for my car to be repaired. The process here is ridiculous.  They finally got all the parts Friday and started the job at that point.  Could not possibly do anything until ALL the parts arrived.  Good grief.

So the interesting part -  quote of parts and labor  170,000 RD to repair my car.  In Canada they would  scrap that car.  My deductible is  5,000RD or US 120 more or less.   However, they will only paint the part of the car that was damaged!  Imagine a RED car that the front will no longer match the back!!!!  I will be taking pictures believe me........ 

They have told me I will have the vehicle THIS week.  Right,  and it will snow here on Christmas day.... hahahahaha.  Well until I sign off they do not get any labor payment from the insurance company..... and Saturday I am off to the north coast for  10 to 14 days!  They will WAIT FOR ME NOW!!!!!   

On  the other front........... it turns out I have torn my rotator cuff in my left shoulder.  I  injured it in the accident and it is slowly  getting worse and worse.  It is still small (Feels huge),   limits my range of  motion and I cannot lift anything over  5 pounds.  Thank goodness champagne is light!!!!!  And I can still dance but not like no one is watching.....    Looks like surgery when things calm down a bit.  YUCKKKKKKK.

I know about the paint. Same thing happened to us so hood and front panel are just a bit off in color from the rest of the car.  Of course they replaced one head light but not the second so I now have one brand new shiny clear headlight and one very yellowed one.  What can you say.

Before jumping into surgery rest that arm for 3-4 weeks and see what happens.  Surgery is not always the answer especially if only a partial tear.

Bob K

Thanks Bob,  we have already done that as much as possible.  6 weeks in and it is worse now then before.  I am taking pills at night -  muscle relaxers and anti inflammatories, resting it as much as possible and no relief. 

I hesitate to do this,  I had my  right shoulder done in 1987 and it was NOT fun.

I agree with Bob regarding surgery for your rotator. I had a partial tear many years ago from playing volleyball. Ice and therapy fixed the problem but it took several weeks if not months. Now some 30 years later I have plenty of strength but not full range of motion. There is pain if the massage lady takes my arm and stretches it beyond my comfort zone. (No jokes please) :-)

Thanks Ron!!!!  I will see what they can do here in terms of physio etc!!!!

About the paint job.... my new mantra applies: Remember where you live !!!
In regards to your shoulder... I hope you will find the right treatment to alleviate your pain.. Avoid surgery if possible.. Bob K. gave good pointers !
Enjoy your dancing in POP !!!

Thanks honey.  You know some days I try to forget where I live but damn it,  I  just keep getting reminded......