Stay with that car

It is common knowledge that if you crash your car in Costa Rica you mustn’t move it; you must call the cops and – if you have insurance – your insurance company. The cops will arrive at the scene, take measurements and pictures, and will let you know when you can move your vehicle. 

The following is a sad story – a triumph of evil over virtue. A client of mine, a Scottish youth, was driving home in the dead of night in his Volkswagen, and another car came full-speed out of a side street and cannoned into him. Nobody was hurt. My client’s cellphone didn’t work, and none of the five lads in the other car admitted to having a phone, so the young Scot locked up his car and went off on foot to seek a public phone. He eventually found one and made the calls to the Traffic Police and his insurance company. 

When he got back to the scene of the accident, he found that the positions of the cars had been switched, so that it looked like he had come out of the side street and therefore was to blame for the collision. The lads must have picked up the VW and manhandled it around – quite a feat, particularly for people in their cups.

There are two morals to this story: 1) Don’t leave the scene of an accident, and 2) Keep a functional cellphone with you when you are driving.n

The opinions and viewpoints expressed are those of the writer, whose purpose is to give the reader a better understanding of insurance in Costa Rica. For more information, contact David Garrett at david@unicencorredora.com.