Positive Experience with Federal Police

By: Barry Payne

I had a very interesting experience earlier this week to share as leaving the town of Tequila at the toll booth my car was rear ended. Fortunately my vehicle was still driveable but with limited Spanish I was concerned as to how this would proceed. It was an interesting learning experience. First with the assistance of the toll booth attendant I called my Insurance Company. Then 2 Federal Police arrived took photos, and authorised moving the vehicles to the side of the road to unblock the toll booth. The senior Federal Policeman (Arturio) told us with his limited English not to worry- the other driver had taken full responsibility. My wife also heard the other driver explain in Spanish that he had been looking at his compadres at the toll station and that by him looking away from the road was the reason why he hit us.

Over the next 2 1/2 hours Arturio not only explained to us what was going on but even took the lead in translating our English statement of events into Spanish for all of the interested parties that arrived. Arturio also asked if my Canadian Driving Licence was the original? I told him that I kept the original in Puerto Vallarta and this was a laminated copy and he told me that the Insurance company would not care, so not to worry. The ambulance arrived with flashing lights and seemed a little disappointed that they were not required. The Tequila Municipal Police arrived – took some brief details from both my wife and I, but deferred to the Feds. The toll road supervisor arrived and also the toll road Insurance adjuster and Arturio explained that they were there as if we had been hit by an uninsured driver that the toll road insurance would have covered the cost of fixing our vehicle. Next the other driver’s insurance adjustor arrived. The only one that did not arrive was our Insurance adjustor – so Arturio comes to the rescue by calling my Insurance company on my cell – in a difficult position as my battery was by that time depleted and I had to plug the short cord under the toll booth desk. Arturio also explained that if he had another accident call he would have to leave but if that happened he would return as it was his responsibility to finalise the case before his final departure.

Whilst waiting , sitting on the chairs in the shade that the toll booth attendants had loaned us, Arturio, my wife Laura and I had an interesting conversation in a mixture of English and Spanish and learned that he had 3 teenage children and was originally from a Northern State but gets moved every 3/4 years – so has lived in many different Mexican States. He has 25 years served and is looking forward to his 30 year mandatory retirement. He works 8 hour rotating shifts and likes the 8 am to 4 pm the best. Still no adjustor from my Insurance – we have been 2 hours now – Arturio gets back on my cell and after about 10 minutes, mostly on hold, finds that the adjustor has gone to the wrong intersection.

At last after 15 minutes more my Insurance adjuster arrives and within 30 minutes has done all the paperwork. Arturio explains that the document that the Insurance adjustor has given me has the name & address of the repair shop in PV, the details of the damage and that there will be no cost to us to get the damage repaired. He notices that the adjustor has not put down a phone # for the PV repair shop so he calls in to Police HQ to get that for us and tells me that it is now OK for me to sign the Insurance forms which of course were in Spanish.

As he was about to leave we complimented him on his service and told him that he had changed our perception of the Federal Police. He replied that he was just doing his job which he enjoys and that he had enjoyed meeting us and having the opportunity to practice his English. As they departed he yelled out to us to remember our cell phone as it was still inside charging.

We packed up, paid the toll and headed out on the toll road and about a mile down the road Arturio had his lights flashing so we were a little concerned. We never paid a Mordida to Arturio, in fact we have on principle never paid one as we believe that if we pay a mordida for our convenience, rather than to pay the fine, that we could never then complain about corruption when it did not suit us.

But our fears were unwarranted – Arturio had found that his partner had mistakenly retained one of our vehicle documents and he wanted to return it to us. So we were went on our way amazed at how much we had learned and how a real negative had resulted in a positive. Even though we had a damaged car!

I took the time this week on our return to get the name and address for the Federal Police in Mexico City and sent them a letter of commendation on their employee – Arturio.

We are fortunate in our retirement to be able to travel extensively and as a result drive a car in many countries and I would never have anticipated such a positive experience here in Mexico. So I figure that I at least owed it to Arturio to share my experiences and hopefully give others a more positive perspective that not all Police are looking for a mordida and do actually care about doing a good job.