I know it's been discussed before, but man, the driving here is tough. For years I have been paranoid about the intersection of Uxmal/Nader (in front of immigration) and always drive super carefully through there as no one stops for the stop sign. Well, yesterday despite my cautiousness I got rammed by a taxi driver flying through the intersection. It would have been a whole lot worse if I hadn't been expecting it and slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel. Dude didn't even pretend to slow down. Nor did dude even ask if I was ok or say sorry, he didn't say one word to me. The cops said it was obviously his fault and he would be paying for damages. One odd thing, the cop handed me a hand written note to sign stating that the police had no responsibility and that we had come to a personal agreement with the taxista. You'd think they would have a formal form for that if it's something they do, I was hesitant to sign it but did just to get the hell out of there. Besides Uxmal/Nader, I hate the ceviche glorieta, so many left hand turns from the right hand lane, always go carefully through there and expect idiots to drive with stupidity. What other intersections do you find to be nightmares? Drive carefully, no one else is!
Yesterday I was in a taxi going around the glorieta where the tunnel is (on Tulum, headed toward the airport). My driver wanted to go right on Bonampak, but was in the left lane (only God knows why). We almost got rammed by a huge pickup. My driver honked at the pickup as if it wasn't his fault. Only driving law in Cancun: the person behind the wheel of your car has the right of way. So glad you're ok, Canuck.
Glad you're ok.. I've said it before, the way these taxis and buses drive it's a real miracle that there are not more bad accidents. If they drove that way in the States they would all have been stripped of their licenses long ago. One concern I would have... if you didn't get anything offical what's to keep the taxi driver from just blowing you off and sticking you with the damages?.. I don't think a hand written note has any legal value in Mexico, and I just hope that the police and taxi didn't conspire to pull a fast one on you....
I agree with Life... be careful on this one. I understand the "sindicato" for taxistas does everything it can to help out taxistas when an accident happens, and they're pretty powerful. Good luck!
Glad to hear you're ok. If I'm thinking of the right place the problem is it looks like a glorieta and people treat it as such, yet it has stop signs which people ignore. When Jannet was ran into from behind 18 months ago our insurance guy was at the scene in minutes and the other (uninsured) driver was carted off to jail until he came up with the repair costs. I almost had a fight with a reporter from El Peso who thought it cool to take pictures of a crying Mum comforting a screaming 4 yr old. He lied and said he was taking pictures of the damage for the police report, but then started zooming in on Jannet and Dani. Both our car and their car were impounded for several days (for which we had to pay the priviledge) until the other driver came up with the cash. We ended up doing the school run in taxis for several weeks and visiting the police station half a dozen times while the car was off the road. The owner of the car that hit us tried to buy off the insurance company to refuse our claim and when that didnt work tried to buy us off not to go through the insurance (they had a friend who would fix it much cheaper!). Then there were issues with poor repairs, waiting for parts and the insurance wanted to repair some things where I wanted them replaced. Took 6 weeks to get it all resolved and the car is still not 100% right in that there is extra wind noise from the back and one of the doors doesnt seal properly. It was a whole lot of hassle and extra expense that we werent reimbursed for, for something that wasn't our fault. I hope your experience with police/insurance/repairs turns out better than ours did. I suspect with the syndicato and the handwritten note involved it might prove to be just as frustrating and costly.
Steve, ouch, sorry to hear you had so much trouble with it. I kind of bailed and let Jorge take over, he rushed from work and started raising hell. (He actually screamed at my co-worker who happened to have stopped to help, Jorge thought he was the driver that hit me, oops). I've put my trust in Jorge to deal with this, I know it's much easier to play "screw the blonde foreigner" than "screw the angry Mexican". We shall see, we shall see......
All that really matters is that you are ok. You can replace/repair your car. Stay Positive! I know its hard with things like this. I've been waiting to get my car back from PGR for 2 months now and still have not lost hope...sometimes its all we have. I'm sending my best to you
Thanks mparry, trying to look on the bright side, it could have been much worse than it was. Jorge called the mechanic, apparently the taxi driver brought all the parts to him so it looks as though he is keeping up his end of the bargain. Fingers crossed that they were the right parts.
When i drive a car or scooter in Cancun.......I drive or ride.."LIKE I STOLE IT!!" It is a big game.and may the boldest, bravest, most foolhardy driver win............!!!! No different than driving or riding in Boston, MA........LOL and I have had plenty of experience being an aggressive driver.. Ken PS: IT IS CALLED SURVIVAL OF THE FASTEST..........!!
