willardguy
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accident going to san felipe. read this
some excellent points brought up here in this tragic accident. (from RDC) this was Kent Kroeker's team.
My last 5 days have been very involved.
I'm going to provide an abbreviated version of what happened. Some may know this stuff already. If so, please disregard. I have had some experience
with accidents in Mexico and I've heard some worst-case-scenario stories, but now, having managed the whole ordeal, I think it's important to bring
everyone up to speed on Mexican laws and accident protocol.
Here's what happened.
I leave for San Felipe on Saturday afternoon. Two chase trucks, two guys in each truck. I'm driving one of them. We stop in Ensenada to pick up some
leftover race fuel that I had stored from the 1000.
At 6:30 pm we start heading out. It's dark, but it's not late. I don't like driving at night in Baja for many reasons. In fact, this is part of our
safety SOP. But it's early still, and I'm not too concerned about it.
At 7:00 pm we're climbing the hill out of Ensenada, on the way to Ojos. I'm driving the lead vehicle. A member of our team is driving the second
vehicle - a big F350 towing a Spec TT. We're going about 35 mph. stuck in the usual traffic, separated by several cars.
I get a radio call from him that a car randomly swerved into their lane and hit their trailer. OK - so I pull off, turn around and go join them. I
park next to them and look at our trailer. There's damage to the front left corner of the trailer, but not much - just a crushed toolbox. I'm thinking
this is no big deal, so I walk back to where the other car is.
I find it spun out, the driver's side is totally annihilated. Airbags deployed, the driver - 35 year old female - is hanging out the window, severely
traumatized. Police are immediately on the scene, but no medics. I open her airway and check vitals - she was still alive. I call over two of my guys
- one a military medic the other an EMT fireman. They bring our big med bag and we all go to work. I won't go into details, but she didn't make it.
I call the "Claims" number on our insurance policy. I use "HDI Seguros" that I purchase through "Discover Baja" in San Diego. This is great quality
insurance. I insure both the truck and the trailer for liability and the two are always kept together. An adjuster arrives on the scene and writes a
report. I call a couple of friends I have in Ensenada and they get to work arranging lawyers etc.
The municipal police wait for the Federal Police to relieve them. The road is a federal road and thus, the Federal Police control that. These guys
come and take over the scene. They take photos and ask questions. They can see on the pavement the marks where the car hit our trailer. Every
indication shows it's her fault.
Before our truck, tailer and Spec TT get impounded, we take everything we can off the vehicles and consolidate the gear onto the other chase truck and
trailer. The accident vehicle goes to impound as "evidence." The impound lot or, "grua," is actually just that big junk yard you see on the way out of
Ensenada. I sign an inventory sheet that basically consists of a checklist including windows, doors, tires and wheels. Doesn't account for tools, GPS,
8 Fox shocks, 6 39" tires etc.
They take my driver away to a hospital to get tested for drugs and alcohol. We go to the Federale building in Ensenada where they write a report and
then incarcerate him. They read him his rights and use the word, "homicide." The Federales are not bad guys; they know who was at fault. They are just
following the Mexican protocol required when someone gets killed on the road. We don't sleep all night, answering questions posed by the police and
trying to figure out what to do next.
Early in the morning, I get a conference call from Mexico City HDI. They say they are arranging bail and sending an attorney. Now the Federale report
gets sent to the Municipio Publico. Eventually a lawyer from HDI shows up and he speaks with my lawyer. Meanwhile my driver is getting transferred
back and forth between the Municipio Publico and a jail cell. At the jail cell the take his shoe laces and belt etc. Sometimes he's chained to other
criminals.
The paperwork was excruciating. If I explained every agency we visited, certified translation, notarized copies, administrative nonsense and calls to
the Mayor's office and Governor we had to go through, it would take ten pages. Finally, the engineering report came through, exonerating my driver of
all wrong doing. Additionally, the toxicology report showed that the woman who hit him had amphetamines, alcohol and marijuana in her blood.
After he was declared "innocent," we had to post $60,000 USD in bail. The insurance attorney from HDI took care of this. If we had not posted bail, my
guy would have sat in jail for another 48 hours. In the case of a traffic death, whether guilty or innocent, the party in question has to remain
incarcerated for 72 hours.
So finally we get my guy out. Now we have to work on getting the truck, trailer and race truck released to me. Well, I have a dossier in which I
thought I had collected a bulletproof set of docs that covered everything. Not so. Not even close. They want the original titles for the truck,
trailer and race car. They want articles of incorporation. They want powers of attorney. I explain that titles are not kept in vehicles because if the
vehicle is stolen the owner will have no proof of ownership. That logic has no affect. Also the vehicle titles are in a company name, not my name.
"Well, why was I permitted to cross the border with these vehicles, then?"
Fast forward four long, 15 hour days of affidavits, powers of attorney, certified translations of everything and they finally released the chase rig
to me. The Federales had requested our high-value property be moved from the junk yard to a private ranch not far away. Not one thing was missing from
our gear.
Takeaways:
1. This was a huge PIA and totally unfair to us, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. If the driver's family had pressed charges of any
kind, no matter what the circumstances, our driver would still be in jail - indefinitely until there was resolution. In this case we were very lucky.
The Federales were kind enough to explain to the family of the deceased what the circumstances were. But ultimately it's up to the family.
2. Don't drive at night if you don't have to. Bottom line is that there are often a lot of intoxicated people on the roads in Mexico. Maybe more than
we think. When it's dark or early in the morning, don't be on the road, exposing yourself to them.
3. If my driver had a beer with dinner or there were beer cans or a bottle in the car, this whole thing would be different. We are strict about
drinking then driving - even one drink. In this case it really paid off.
4. Have your papers in order. Insure your vehicles and trailer together. Have papers for your race cars. Make certain that there is an actual name on
the titles and registrations and not a company name - or you may never get your stuff back. If vehicles are registered to a company, have a Power of
Attorney indicating someone on the team as the responsible party. Keep the original, notarized copy with you.
5. If you race in Mexico, be willing to lose everything. This means all assets, including your sanity. If just a couple of elements of in this story
were different - like if it wasn't totally obvious to the investigators that we were not at fault - our people and equipment could be stranded in
Mexico forever.
6. I called Roger Norman and Oscar Ramos. They may have good intentions but they can't help you in situations like this. You will need local friends
you can trust or you will be taken advantage of. Big Time. Most Mexican people are honest and will bend over backwards to help in any situation. This
was no different. All the notaries, translators, secretaries and even the police were kind and helpful. They did their best to expedite and were
apologetic while functioning within a broken and corrupt system.
7. You better know functional Spanish or you will be totally lost.
8. Bring a lot of cash - 10x more than you think you need for the race. I'm not unfamiliar with operating in developing nations and I know how to make
a dollar go a long way. Even if you're totally innocent, it's going to be expensive.
9. I'm only providing 1/100 of what actually happened. It's more complex, shady, falsified and convoluted than I can write about on a public forum.
And it was very, very expensive.
I love racing in Baja. It's the real deal and I will never stop coming down here.
This story and AAR are not meant to discourage anyone from going to Baja; they're meant to encourage people to take racing in Baja seriously.
We're operating in a foreign country with a Napoleonic legal system. It doesn't protect the rights of the individual the way US laws do. I just
experienced one of the worst things that could happen to an American team in Baja. Change a couple of small things and it could have been even worse.
Be aware of the risks and be prepared to deal with unpredictable mayhem that can occur while racing in Mexico.
[Edited on 1-16-2015 by willardguy]
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desertcpl
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just an incredible story,, over the years I have heard many accounts like this
some of them with out comes way worst
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mtgoat666
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re documents, keep them all online in drop box or google docs. then they are available even if your car is stolen or burnt up. i keep my passport
copy and even insurance copies online.
good reminder: DO NOT DRIVE AT NIGHT!
it sounds like you were inconvenienced and annoyed at the delays and complications. but someone died. i think their inconvenience trumps yours.
sorry for your delays, but you should not expect less when someone dies.
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Whale-ista
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Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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thanks for posting your experiences and reminding us all of the importance of good insurance and being vigilant about other drivers.
I'm prepping to travel soon to see whales, possibly in a caravan with people who have not driven in Baja before, and I often worry about this type of
situation.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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Maron
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My God, what an experience.
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willardguy
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just to be clear this was a paste from RDC by Kent Kroeker about his team.
[Edited on 1-16-2015 by willardguy]
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Cappy
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Definitely one for the books
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rts551
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Read about this accident and posted it in Talk Baja. News article did not make it clear who was at fault. only that there was a death. ANother
article painted a picture of high speed driving at night.
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mtgoat666
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Quote: Originally posted by rts551  | | Read about this accident and posted it in Talk Baja. News article did not make it clear who was at fault. only that there was a death. ANother
article painted a picture of high speed driving at night. |
most of the support teams for racers drive too fast, drive irresponsibly,... so the story about gringos driving "slow" is ________. You fill in the
blank.
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willardguy
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what a surprise 
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David K
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Thanks Willardguy!
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Ateo
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SCARY. I think I'm gonna start letting my wife drive. 
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lizard lips
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Having a dash cam is also very important. There was an accident not to long ago where a women driver crossed over into on-coming traffic on the road
from Mexicali to Tecate and was hit head on with a vehicle containing two wealthy Mexican men. It was necessary for them to post a million peso bond
and then they had to hire an accident reconstruction expert to sort it out. It was finally proven that the woman caused the accident but the two guys
were out a lot of cash after paying for experts and attorney costs. A dash cam would have eliminated much of the cost for sure.
My brother in law owns that junk yard where the trailered race car was taken. I deal with the Federal de Caminos a lot and am person friends with
them. They are not only the nicest guys around but the most honest as is my brother in law and his employees. There are a lot of horror stories about
cars being impounded and when it's recovered a lot of items are stolen and the gas is siphoned.
What happened to the driver is protocol when involved in an accident and they were not singled out for being Americans. It's just the way it is.
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sancho
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Good mention on alcohol, I'm guessing more
than a few here either drink beer during or before
driving, Mex Ins Policies clearly state Ins is invalid
if alcohol is a contributing factor. Have heard, not verified,
that rendering medical assistance MAY/CAN be interrupted
as 'practicing medicine without a license' by Mex Authorities
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jakethedog
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Mt666, you truly are the "666". Go swerve in to the middle lane on your bike. You make Canooks look good.
Hope all involved in that truly unfortunate situation es bein.
I am a Doc and could not even imagine wanting , or needing to help someone live, and possibly spend time needing KY.
EEK
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bacquito
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Good grief, what a read!
bacquito
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jakethedog
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Canada, and I try and hide it as best as I can.
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BajaBlanca
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What a story .... wow.....makes you want to never get on the road here. I can't imagine being innocent. being in a horrid accident. and then going
to jail - shackled-
ughhhhhh
Not only that,but I bet Les would leave me there hahaha (just kidding, he says he loves me  )))
thanks for sharing and it is VERY imperative that we understand the rules. This ain't America, folks, this is very definitely not Kansas, Toto.
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vacaenbaja
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You have to be sure that this thing is put to rest at the highest level of the judicial ladder. Appeals can be made by either the family of the victim
or by the legal equivalent
of ourDA. Even if they are frivolous if filed your lawyer must be present to dispute the appeal as being without merit or you could be on the hook
again unbeknownst to you.
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