Rear ended by chileans

My family hired a vehicle transport for a 2hour trip to a hotel where we had quite a few bags that wouldnt all fit in our car.

We were only about 15min on the road and got rear ended in the vehicle. Driver pulled over and talked to the guys that hit the back. It was a yaris type sedan that rear ended the peugeot van. So it was quite low on the van and the bumper took most of the hit. The yaris bumper was destroyed fallen off.

We were at the side of the road for about 30min. I got pictures of the license plate. Our hired driver called his boss to report it. Then he said we could leave and continue and I was surprised the police were not called. He said it wasn’t necessary.
We contacted the boss in the morning when we found that one of our suitcases was cracked from the impact and some of us had back pain.

The boss said the guy that rear ended us had no job or insurance and thats why the police werent called.

Anyone have experience with getting hit in chile by someone with no insurance?

The hired driver screwed up and that likely complicates your recovering damages and treatment of injuries. The driver’s boss claiming “…the guy that rear ended us had no job or insurance and thats why the police werent called…” is totally bogus. But very Chilean, which is to say irresponsible. But I repeat myself.

If there were the injuries as you reported, then Carabineros should have been called to perform a report. Pacos can be remarkably lazy so getting them to prepare a written report may take some doing. That endemic flojera is part of why this country is not considered on any path to development.

You indicated that the boludo had no insurance. He probably has SOAP to legally register and operate the vehicle and if not then Pacos would typically call for it to be seized (for no valid Permiso de Circulación). Mandatory SOAP is supposed to cover injuries to a vehicle operator, his/her/its passengers, and to third parties that may be hurt. That’s you and yours.

SOAP => Seguro Obligatorio de Accidentes Personales

On the other hand, “civil liability” coverage for physical damages accidents is not required, as it would be in the civilized countries. Most owners don’t carry it. That shortcoming is Exhibit 9038(C) in Chile’s massive list of reasons why it cannot be considered a civilized nation. Absent that coverage on the part of the offending boludos who ran into you, getting payment from them is unlikely. But your hired-vehicle and driver may be responsible. And there is negligence on the part of that hired driver for failing to report an accident involving injuries. In theory, the SOAP of the hired vehicle may technically cover your injuries, but not your damaged luggage. Thus you will have to insist, and really insist, to the operator of the hired vehicle that all your injuries and damaged personal property are the responsibility of the operator of that hired vehicle.

Good luck with that. The pain of dealing with habitually irresponsible vehicle operators in this country is going to be greater than the pain from your injuries.


Sidebar: many years ago when I was working as a tour guide, one of our guests was operating a company owned vehicle and he got into a nasty accident. Carabineros were notified. Since the guest was a foreigner, they, Pacos, would have to pull his passport and keep him in the country until a court hearing ( “sometime next week”) could resolve responsibilities. I had to sweet-talk the Pacos and the guest to keep that from happening, and as soon as the doctors could stabilize that fellow’s injury, he was on a plane and out of Chile, vowing never to return.

Sidebar number two: Chileans are the worst fooking drivers of any place I’ve ever known, and that includes Boston.

Thanks for the tips…Yes i thought it was bogus when he said the police weren’t called because of no job no insurance.

Live and learn. We will see what we can do at this point

What it comes down to is do you want the best for yourself, just acting from a selfish perspective? IF yes, don’t pursue it.

Or are you willing to make a small sacrifice for the betterment of society? In which case, make sure that the person involved gets some kind of comeback, and that people know about it.

On my experience I think drivers are worse than Chile in Brazil, Peru, Malaysia, and Italy.

And better than Chile in Japan, northern and western Europe, and the US.