Car Accidents are Different Here

Wayne came to a stop at the traffic light as the small bus in front of him went on into the intersection. It stopped, and then, without warning, began to quickly back up. Seeing what was coming, Wayne laid on the horn. Still the bus came back. Smash into our front end. The bus continued to push backwards as Wayne applied the brake and blew the horn. The bus pushed the car backwards a bit as people crossing the street in back of Wayne scrambled not to get hit by him. Eventually he did stop.

So what would you do next in the United States? They did try numerous times calling the police but they didn't answer their phones. ( I once told a Brazilian about 911 and the thought that is was incredible and a little unbelievable that police would always be there and come when needed).

All the people got off the bus and went to find another way as Wayne, the driver and Saba, Wayne's ,passenger, decided what to do. So it was off to the police station to file a report. But there was a catch, the bus driver fled the police station before the report was filed. Illegal, yes, but unlikely to be prosecuted. Wayne still filed a report, since he had the license plate number, bus company name and name of the driver from his name tag.

The car was drivable, but had no headlights and need some repairs. So what do you do next in the states? The driver asked us not to tell the bus company, that he would pay. But he had no money to pay. But the bus company was another story. Their story to us was that this driver was in his first few months so he was not covered under any insurance. Even though it was their driver's fault, they would not cover any of the cost of repairs. So we have to pay for it ourselves.

Well we do have an insurance policy, it said it covers 100% of the cost of repairs from an accident not your fault. So what happens next in the states? Well here, insurance firms each have their own repair shop and you must get your car repaired at them if they pay. So it was off to the car repair shop. A week they said, and we will have your car to you.

That was three weeks ago. We still do not have a car. ( No rental cars for those in accidents here). Yesterday, the company said the car was ready, but we owed them over 1000 dollars and we could not have the car till we paid. It seems like deep in the policy description is a clause that allows them to discount how much they pay out. So 100% coverage was not really 100%., it is more like 50%. Ok ,so we pay the money.

Well the car won't start. Looks like the alternator has failed. They want 250$ for a used junk yard one, a lot more than a new one in the states. So the car sits in the insurance companies shop while we have the alternator rebuilt.