Auto Accidents

This just blows me away. The general rule is that if you have an accident, you leave your car exactly where it stopped.  If you move it, you loose your insurance rights and can automatically be assigned blame for the accident.  Well it makes some sense but if you have ever seen the traffic in San Jose or the autopista you know how difficult it is to leave your car exactly where it stops - it may even be more hazardous to do so but that is the law.

Now, there is another part of the law that the Sala IV (one of the 4 divisions of their Supreme Court) ruled that you can leave the scene of an accident!

What were they thinking??? Well their reasoning is that you are still responsible for any damage or injury you caused but you do not have to wait around because it could be self incriminating. 

Imagine this:  Someone has one too many to drink.  He or she hits another car and injures someone and their car is immobilized. What do they do? Keep on driving. If the police get a good enough description and enough pressure to complete the investigation (Two very big ifs) by the time they find the culprit, they could be sober and have had their car repaired.  Therefore there is no proof against them.

Do I advocate this?  Hell no! It is just one of the stupid laws that exist here in Costa Rica that you need to be aware of.  Don’t expect the other party to an accident to stop.

Note:  If you have a rental car, don’t even think of trying this as your insurance won’t cover anything unless you get a police and INS (insurance company) report.  Also, if yo have been drinking and are legally drunk, you forfeit your insurance coverage.