Originally Posted by
backprop
Sorry to bump an old thread, but do such policies - and by that I mean the SLE or $4M (or more) comprehensive liability policies, preclude situations of jail time as in the case a few years ago in which the
minister sat in jail until things were sorted out?
My understanding was that if a settlement for injury can't be reached between the insured and the injured and his/her family, the insurance would certainly step in -- but not until a hearing could be scheduled, in which case the insured would be held in jail, as happened in the case above.
Not to overthink this whole thing, but I'm just wanting to get the best insurance I can and relegate even the thought of jail to the back of my mind.
AFAIK, there's no iron clad way you can avoid such a situation if there are injuries caused. If the injuries are caused to members of a prominent family or politician, there are influences beyond the law that come into play.
People try to ignore or gloss over Mexico's laws are both very different from the U.S. (Napoleonic Code vs. English Common Law) and that in reality the applicability of the law can be uneven, arbitrary and even capricious.
A reputable insurance company is your bail or in
most instances; where injury is caused, it becomes much trickier, and the law does require restitution for lost wages, etc. But a tourist is generally handicapped by language, lack of adequate representation and both a lack of access to cash and the knowledge about where to apply it.
If there's a death involved, it's worse. The law requires 5,000 days of lost wages be covered (that's nearly 14 years of the lowest minimum wage or the lowest professional wage). Once all the bureaucratic, financial and legal obligations are satisfied, including a prison sentence in cases of criminal conduct (driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs of any kind or whether OTC or prescribed) one is free to go.
(Not to mention the person you cause injury can find sudden promotion in life from someone who habitually spent time avoiding work and sponging from his family into a young person of great promise who had just been poised to embark on the professional job of a lifetime. Unfortunately, you do not have the knowledge, investigator not credibility to refute any of it.)
Much of this is in the OP.
Renting a car in Mexico is easy, but IMO one should think the entire thing through and if one proceeds, be twice or thrice as cautious about driving as in the USA or Canada, say, because driving conditions and the legal environment are very, very different.