Cindie's Car Crash: a Mexican Experience
Guanajuato, Mexico
(July 6, 2002)

While in San Miguel we took in the sights and did some shopping. There is a big merchant market with everything from full length mirrors in pressed tin, my favorite, jewelry, paintings, blankets and T-shirts. Everything was fun to look at but of course none of it would fit on the bike so I did not buy anything. Let's just say I do a lot of window shopping in Mexico. We also went into a store that made copper sinks, door handles and anything you can think of made out of copper. San Miguel is a great place to buy copper accessories. Terry and Michelle were planning on staying the night and go on to Dolores Hidalgo on the bus in the morning.

The rest of us left San Miguel about 5:30 in the afternoon and started back to Guanajuato. We drove back to Guanajuato through the city of Dolores Hidalgo and going over the mountain. We took a break at a restaurant at the top of the mountain. When we set off again everyone was buckle in tight. I was looking forward to the drive back into town, Guanajuato has many underground tunnels that route traffic under the city, a place I would not ride my bike so an unknown part of Guanajuato to me. Traffic was heavy when we got into town so we were bumper to bumper in the tunnels. These tunnels went everywhere, at least there were signs posted as to what turnoff went where. People even parked their cars down here. We finally turned off on Alonso, the street that Shari lived on. Out of the tunnel and onto the busy street we popped. We had climbed out of the tunnel and now were heading down a hill, as we rounded the corner, Shari said, Oh my God, my brakes are not working! She tried for the parking brake but we still did not slow down. I realized that we were not going stop until we hit something. I looked over at the kids and Lauren was still sleeping next to me but Areanna was awake. I braised for the impact and leaned over to hold Lauren in her seat. I was afraid she would slip under the seat belt. Since I was in the back seat visibility was not great. First we hit the truck in front of us and to my disbelief, bounced off to the right, jumped the curb, and hit the wall, Shari said something about pedestrians, but we were still moving. Then we hit the truck in front of us again and came to a stop. Silence, then Shari said, is everyone all right? I said yes I was and the kids were ok too. Oh this is bad I said. Shari said what? I said nothing and jumped out of the car. I thought that if you got into a car accident in Mexico that you immediately went to jail. I had visions of Shari going to jail and the kids crying and saying I want my mommy. I ran over to some pedestrians who happened to speak English and Spanish and asked them if Shari was going to go to jail for causing a car accident. They said no. The people in front of us came out of the truck and they appeared OK. The truck damage did not look to bad, a broken light and twisted bumper but the van had more damage then I thought it would. The hood was dented up and the grill was punctured. A cop showed up next. We had traffic backed up in the tunnel and beyond I am sure. The pedestrian I talked to said that she would translate for us. My Spanish is just not up to par for a situation like this. The cop seemed skeptical about the failed brakes until he tried to move the car. He had to use the parking brake as he drove the car away. Luckily, we were close to Shari's hotel. Shari and I walked to where they parked the car. When we did get to the car there were four police officers and a crowd of people. First, an officer wanted Shari's insurance and license. Shari called her husband on her cell phone while the crowd got bigger. Then she was told by the police that her car would be impounded unless she worked out something with the driver of the truck she hit. So the choices were settling on the spot or getting the car impounded. It seemed like an easy decision, pay the man. In the mean time, the proprietor of Shari's hotel showed up. He also spoke English and Spanish. Then another officer asked Shari for her license and insurance. What a nightmare. It took an hour and a half to sort things out. In the end Shari gave the gentleman a thousand pesos for his twisted fender with the option of more if he showed a receipt for additional work. We though we would never see him again. We all had a beer after everything was over.

It could have been a lot worse. We could have lost the brakes on the mountain. I went to sleep glad to have a bike to ride instead of a car to drive. The ordeal was over for me that day but a bigger nightmare was to begin for Shari. She had many days of frustration and people's hands were outstretched all along the way. She contacted her insurance in Mexico and at first they did not want to step in because she had settled at the scene of the accident. However, they did help her in the end. Shari's advice for anyone in an accident in Mexico is to go through the same procedures you would in the US. Call you insurance company immediately.

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