When we arrived in San Francisco on Thursday, I rented a car. It was the first time I’d ever done so — we’ve never used one on vacation, and this was my first business trip. The whole car rental thing was a mystery to me.
When the man at the rental counter asked me what sort of insurance I wanted to purchase, I told him I had my own. In truth, I had forgotten to research my coverage. I was placing faith in what I’d read many times before — that car rentals are generally covered by your own auto insurance and by your credit card.
On Saturday we drove to Berkeley. Kris took me to a nice restaurant for my birthday lunch, and I made a stop at a comic book store. (Where I bought nothing, by the way — I’ve come a long way!) 
We were driving back on University Avenue, stopped at an intersection, when a car slammed into us from behind.
My first thought wasn’t about the safety of those in the accident, but about how I hadn’t purchased the rental company’s insurance. I got out of the car and walked back to talk to the other driver, a Hispanic man about my age. “Are you okay?” I asked. He was. “Do you have insurance?” I asked. He did not.
We pulled onto a side street. While he called his wife, I phoned the Berkeley police. I had no idea what to do in the situation, but I figured I had to file an accident report to have any hope of settling with rental company.
As we waited for the police to arrive, I tried to convince the other driver to exchange information with me. He was reluctant to do so. Eventually he gave his name as José Hernandez. “I can just pay you cash,” said José.
“I can’t do that,” I said. “Maybe if it was my own car, but it’s not.” His English was fairly good, but he couldn’t seem to understand that the car was a rental, and that we were only visiting from out of town. Together, we looked at the damage to the vehicles. The rear bumper of my car was destroyed, but everything else seemed fine. The front end of his vehicle was scrunched, but the damage was entirely cosmetic.
I felt bad. I knew that by reporting the accident, the relative financial consequences for José would probably be far more severe than they would be for me if I didn’t report it. He might lose his job (he was driving to work when the accident occurred), he was likely to be fined, and if he were in the U.S. illegally, he might even be deported. By reporting the accident, I might be ruining his life. If I didn’t report it, all that would happen to me is that my emergency fund would be drained.
The three police officers who arrived on the scene grasped the situation immediately. When I expressed my concerns, one of them nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s tough, but you had to make the call. If you were in your own car, I can see trying to take care of it privately. But you’re in a rental. You had to do this.”
Did I? Leaving aside all the things that José was doing wrong — driving without a license or insurance, rear-ending somebody, possibly being in the U.S. illegally — was my own decision the right one? In the heat of the moment, I acted almost instinctively to protect myself. In retrospect I wonder if there were better options.
When we got back to the hotel, I called my insurance company. The rental is covered under my policy. From what I can tell, the $250 deductible will even be reimbursed by my credit card company. In theory, all this minor accident will cost me is a couple hours of my time. But it’s going to cost José much more.
Image by Incase Designs, and is not our accident.
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You obviously don’t live in Texas, where our rates are ridiculous to uninsured motorists, hispanic, illegal whatever. We already pay to have insurance because of the people who decide to illegally drive. Why should we have to pay again when we get in the accident that’s not our fault?
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The real dilemma is not being addressed. The question is not “should I have called the cops?” The question really should be “how can I fix the gross injustice that is our immigration policy?”
If this were a true Christian nation, our immigration policy would be different. We would not merely shrug our shoulders as 90% of the world lived in misery. A high fence to keep the “have nots” out of our country is not the answer.
Calling Jose a “lawbreaker” is easy. But if it were your family living in squalor back in the old country, I guarantee you’d be on the first northbound bus too.
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Ouch! All this has turned into the great immigration debate, and a lot of people are showing their ugly side.
First off, I understand where you are coming from, and I have an old saying for you: don’t borrow trouble. You don’t know the guy is illegal, you don’t know it’s going to ruin his life, and you don’t know the consequences, good or bad, that this experience will cause for him. So, you are agonizing over facts that, for you, simply do not exist.
I live in Arizona and there are a lot of immigrants, legal and otherwise. I was rear-ended a few years ago by a perfectly legal white chick, who gave me false information and ran out on me. I never did get my bumper repaired, since the damage was minor (it was my Ford Focus — why spend money on a car I hate?), but I will never give anyone the benefit of the doubt again. But think about this; the guy was a nice guy, he hung around and waited for the cops to come, even if he was pretty reluctant. If he truly was an illegal immigrant, he would have just ran, leaving everything behind.
It sucks to be him, and to learn the hard way that laws in the U.S. aren’t “bendable” like they are in other countries (we can’t assume he’s from Mexico just because his name is Jose). And I mean that — it really sucks to be him. I got my car towed in Japan once (couldn’t read the no parking sign), and nearly had a heart attack when I found out it cost $600 to get it out of impound, PLUS $150 for the ticket. It was a borrowed car, so I had to do it, but it ruined my vacation and took all my spending money. We all have moments like this.
You’re a nice guy, J.D., which is why you worried, but unfortunately, Jose made his own bad fortune this time. But here’s a better scenario to think about: a lot of Latin Americans have a culture of family and community that we lack. If he lost his shirt in the deal, probably his family and friends will cough up some cash to help him out.
For all the xenophobes coming out on this post — please! Being Hispanic is not a crime.
~Missy MARTINEZ, Tucson, AZ
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One additional comment – how come he had enough cash to offer to pay for your damages, but not enough to be able to afford insurance? Ignoring all the other things like it being a rental car, you were on travel and dealing with someone you didn’t know. If he doesn’t have the cash on him, are you going to be able to hang around and go to the bank with him to get the cash, or do you really think he’ll just send you a check in a dew days? I don’t think so.
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Quoting Missy:
“But think about this; the guy was a nice guy, he hung around and waited for the cops to come, even if he was pretty reluctant. If he truly was an illegal immigrant, he would have just ran, leaving everything behind.”
Missy raises a good point, sometimes the people you expect to skip out, show better character than some US Citizens.
Using anecdotal evidence, when was the last time you saw a parent publicly teach their children morals? Ive seen bratty kids bitch out their parents in malls for not buying them the latest skank top/XBOX.
However, he did drive illegally, probably is illegal. (Im hispanic I would assume as such as well). His life is not over, the courts see this all the time, all they are going to do is probably fine him, and he will skip out.
No reason to weigh all of your opinions on this forum, when you can be doing something better… Like I dunno:
Support Legislation to go after the business es that hire illegals? Gee, what a thought.
But, not to drift too much from the topic of this site…
Moral of the story: Protecting your self = Good, Not knowing what youre covered for = Bad. Check your coverages people
-Israel, Orange County, CA
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Well written.
I’m glad you didn’t just look out for you in your post and I like the honesty you expressed. When I read it the first thing I thought was “did your insurance cover this?”!
I feel the same concern for Jose but you did do the right thing.
-Jim. Pennsylvania.
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I think you ultimately did the right thing. I mean, while it is certainly true that his life could be ruined, it is his fault for not abiding by the law. I do not have any pity for that sort of person. You would also have likely had to lie to the insurance company to get any coverage as well.
Last but certainly not least, I have heard stories of people who felt fine after an accident to have problems start to develop later. You never know when that could be you…
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It is because of posts like this that I read this blog. Being rich doesn’t mean just being monetarily rich, but leading a rich life and being a decent human being/citizen/denizen of the planet. Because you are the kind of person who struggles with these types of questions, your insights are especially valuable.
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You made the right call. Why should you suffered for someone else’s mistakes?
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Clearly you made the right decision to call the police. I have a good friend who was hit by an uninsured driver, and although for you personally it was a minor problem if the accident had been more serious or you had been a single mother with no emergency fund this could have been a life destroying event. By doing the right thing and calling the police you’ve saved that other person from those complications.
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Oh for pity’s sake, you did the right thing! If this what a white guy driving without a license or insurance, would you feel bad about calling him in? The way the system is set up, driving without insurance is super irresponsible and should be reported. Unfortunately for Jose, if you get caught for breaking one law while you’re breaking several others, there’s going to be some negative repercussions.
Honestly, I doubt he’ll get deported. Hopefully he’ll find a way to drive legally so this won’t happen again.
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Sorry, but your biggest mistake was being in Berkeley, which is a “sanctuary city” and the most Anti-American place in the U.S. Notice the cops didn’t care that he had no license/insurance, and propably no registration. My policy here in CA requires me to pay uninsured motor vehicle liability and property loss because of people like “Jose”.
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My brand new car, this was years ago, was hit 3 times (yeah he was really drunk) by an unlicensed, uninsured and illegal immigrant who was driving his cousin’s car and had a fake i.d.
It took me months to get the insurance coverage and reimbursement worked out. The driver was released and did not appear at court. The police then arrested a person matching the fake i.d. but the fingerprints didn’t match so the case never went forward. The state attonrey’s office told me that the driver probably fled the country.
Anywho, the cousin’s insurance did finally pay all my expenses but it took months and months to work out.
Based on my experience, I will always call the police when I’m involved in an accident.
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While in college I interned at State Farm agent’s office in Miami. I can tell you that the worst thing you can do is to not file the police report. On more than one occasion an insured would call us because he or she had just been served with a summons related to a lawsuit arising from exactly the type of facts you lay out.
The at fault driver would beg the not a fault driver to handle the matter privately and keep the police out of it. After much debate the not at fault driver would agree. Several weeks if not months later the at-fault driver would claim that the not-at-fault driver left the scene of the accident without exchanging information and left him injured.
What do you do then? It’s your word versus his and you’re starting off by admitting that you didn’t call the police. The at-fault driver had often waited until the not-at-fault driver left the scene and then called the police himself to get the report filed with a set of facts that suited him.
Always call the police. Take a couple pictures of the incident as quickly as possible and try to get the names and contact information from as many witnesses as possible. Ask for people’s business cards and make notes on the back.
Doing what you think is “morally right” may end up costing you dearly in the long run. Additionally, I question whether allowing an unlicensed, uninsured, illegal immigrant who has already been negligent in the operation of a motor vehicle escape justice is morally right. How would you feel if the next accident killed someone? The laws are here for a purpose. While we may not agree with the law, it’s not up to us to pick and choose which laws we’re going to follow.
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JD, you made the unfortunate right decision. As someone who works in a collision repair shop, I’ve seen many, many people try to protect someone else, and end up the loser because they were nice people. Had it not been a rental vehicle, sure, give him a chance… But with it being a rental, you don’t have that option because the rental agency would take it out of your skin if you hadn’t gotten info and gone through insurance. Also, it’s distinctly possible that if the bumper is demolished, there’s quite a bit more damage behind it, so insurance would be necessary anyways to cover the hidden damages and because the cost would start escalating quickly….. Oh, and to those who think the guy is an illegal alien? Hush. Just because he’s Hispanic and doesn’t have insurance, doesn’t make your flippant assumption correct. It just makes you an ass.
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Are you kidding me? of course you had to do it. I would bet there is a clause in your rental agreement that requires you to report such accidents. Otherwise, you would be in breach of your contract (have not read other comments so no idea if this has been pointed out already).
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Let me re-iterate:
To me what is interesting are the relative consequences of each choice I might have made. I agree that ultimately I made the right decision, as did José in taking his lumps. (For those wondering about what happened after: when we drove away, the police were still talking with him, but it sounded like he was headed down to the station at least for a little while. They weren’t going to let him go anywhere with the car, that’s for sure.)
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Berkeley is one of the most interesting and historic places in all of the United States. How is the “Free Speech Movement” Anti-American, Brian?
All I have to say is, Go Bears!
Oh and J.D., you did the right thing here.
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J.D,
I’m sure that you understand and understood that you had to make the call. But, I can sympathize with your desire to cut him some slack. I’ve been there. There’s a tremendous difference between dealing with ‘an issue’ and dealing with ‘a person’. Illegal immigration is a difficult topic to discuss. Heck, I’m a white dude, and I’ve lived here all my life. I have no idea what it is to grow up, impoverished, surrounded my squalor, and feeling no hope. I can’t say that I wouldn’t ‘climb a fence’ or ‘hop a boat’. In fact, as a man, I’d feel an OBLIGATION to do better for my family, regardless of the law. That being said, we are a county of laws, and those laws must be enforced. For every move that is made to curb illegal immigration, there will be a counter move made that increases it. As long as financial discrepancies exist between neighboring countries, illegal immigration will be an issue. If you are like me, and from the tone of you post, you are, then you were torn over doing the ‘legally right thing’ and your desire not to hurt ‘Jose’ or his family. And, by dodging your questions and trying to settle in cash, plus driving without a license or insurance, he gave you every reason to call the police and to believe that he might be here illegally (or that he wants to avoid the police for some other reason.) But, he’s still just a dude, like any other dude, regardless of his legal status. And, when you have to look another human being in the eye – and make that call – that can be a tough thing to do.
NCN
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JD,
I’m glad you linked to Jay’s post. I think you’ve got a good head on those shoulders.
Regardless of consequences to Jose, you had to report it, and you did. Thanks for being an example of personal finance responsibility, and also thanks for letting us know what you think you did wrong (not fully understanding your insurance). Your frankness and willingness to share will hopefully lead to your readers checking on their coverage and being aware of the many nuanced financial responsibilities of renting a car.
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You made the right decision. I was hit from behind by someone who wasn’t in this country legally. Who had a license from Chile but luckily had insurance. I’m glad I called the police because I ended up having to use my own insurance to fix the damages as other party’s insurance company was not willing to pay for anything. Ultimately my insurance company had to take the other insurance company to court to settle for damages.
If the damage is above $500 or if there is more than one car involved, call the police. If the other driver has no insurance, that’s their fault for driving without it and being a high risk to society.
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My brother got in a accident with a rental. In order for his credit card company to cover it he had to notify them within ten days. He thought his insurance would cover it, but when they refused it was to late for the CC to pick it up. Just food for thought you ma want to contact your CC company even if you don’t think you’ll need their help.
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I feel bad for Jose, but we have to take care of our families first.
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JD, I admire your compassion for another human being. While you did the right thing and it really is the only choice, it is decent to have some feeling about it. Doing the “right thing” is often the hardest thing to do.
Even though Jose did a lot of things wrong, I’m encouraged that you’re one of the rare people out there who can think of what it might be like to walk in less fortunate shoes.
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Wait… YOU feel guilty about somebody else doing something illegal? Something that could have ended up causing you to lose money in the end? Are you in any way responsible for the decisions this guy has made in his life.
What happens to your car insurance rates for this accident?
And really, if people were deported that easily… illegal immigration wouldn’t be such a huge issue.
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If he is here illegally, he needs to face the consequences. I doubt he’ll be deported.
If Jose is here legally, this should be a good learning experience.
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I’m absolutely with NCN. Compassion and empathy are what makes humans nice to be around.
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JD, This was a great post. It’s too bad many (though not all) of the posts are so ignorant. The holier-than-thou attitudes really take it down a notch.
For what it’s worth, #22 sums up my thoughts on this quite well.
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I doubt Jose was here illegally. He wouldn’t have stuck around waiting for the cops to show up to deport him!
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Aaron & Mike, thank you for the “inside info” from the insurance side of the fence
Really, why is everyone going on about illegal immigrants? We don’t know if the guy was illegal or not. We know the thought crossed JD’s mind when JD examined the possible consequences of his actions. That says that JD doesn’t act without thinking, not that the guy was an illegal alien.
Re: the guy not understanding why a rental car meant needing to report the accident, JD said this was the first time he’d rented a car. My folks never rented a car, and worried about what sort of a lemon I might be driving when I rented one for a business trip. Ignorance of rental cars may say something social/economic class, yes, but not necessarily “not from this country”. My mom was definitely from this country – from the hills of Tennessee, to be precise, where water was pumped by hand and flush toilets meant you were damn rich.
JD, I’m glad you are alright. Take it easy for a few days – you had a bit of a shock, and you may have some extra aches and pains. Hot baths or showers and a backrub might be a good idea.
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I know this wasn’t the point of this blog post, but it has become the issue in the comments, that “José got what he deserved,” and that JD shouldn’t be feeling sorry for him.
I think it’s easy for people to make this kind of statement when, for them, it’s just a faceless stranger they’ve never met and will never meet.
But if it were someone else who had met him, talked to him, and saw his worry firsthand, then maybe you would be singing a tune more similar to JD.
At least José didn’t try to run away, but stayed and faced the consequences, whatever they may be. Besides, like JD said, he might not be an illegal immigrant. It could be his insurance has lapsed and he couldn’t afford to renew it, but can’t afford to stop going to work either.
Times are hard and we’re all feeling the pinch. Those of us who can still afford insurance should be grateful for small blessings. Maybe his income is barely enough to feed his family and pay the rent. It’s not for us to judge.
As for calling the police, though, it was a tough call, but I think it was the right thing to do.
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Always, always, ALWAYS call the police when you’re in an accident. It creates a paper trail that you can use to verify claims and tackle related problems.
Even if you could have dealt with it privately, who’s to say the other person will honestly come through?
In my state, one of the reasons insurance rates are so high is because there are a lot of uninsured drivers. Getting uninsured drivers off the road (or insured!) will help.
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Honestly JD, the fact that you are worried about something like this is one of the reasons I like your blog.
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Well, be a Berkeleyite (is there such a word?) I would like to apologize for your time in Berkeley being tarnished. You did the right thing, of course; our daughter got slammed here a while back and much to the dismay of the other driver, a teenager, and his Dad, we felt we had to contact our insurance company. We usually don’t depend on the local police for this stuff,–they’re too busy watching protesters–but in your position, you had to!
Come visit again!!
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Whatever Jose’s situation, the fact that he stuck around to talk to police puts him in a more decent category than some people. My boyfriend was in a hit and flee accident a while back. The guy didn’t even offer to pay out of pocket. He said he needed to get to work, got back in his car and drove off before the police arrived. Of course my bf reported it to the police and insurance company, but when the guy was tracked down, he wouldn’t answer his phone. Someone finally picked up the phone and said they sold the truck and didn’t know about any accident. The police said they didn’t care and weren’t going to follow up on it any further, even though there were witnesses. My bf ended up just donating his totalled car to charity.(It still ran, but suffered frame damage that cost more than the value of the car.)
I hope Jose get some leniency for sticking around to face the music rather than running off like the red truck driving good ole boy that effectively stole a car from my bf. Unless we want to teach the lesson that you really should just flee an accident because you’ll probably get away with it. Talk about deporting people because they’re breaking the law is all good and well, but what about the guy who hit and ran? Isn’t that supposed to be against the law? I can’t fault a person for trying to make a wage for his family and be willing to face the consequences of it. I sure can be flaming torqued off with a jerk off who just didn’t give a flip, and police who couldn’t be bothered to ‘enforce the law’.
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Cathy,
Are they not liable for the damage? What would stop someone else from doing that?
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# Ron@TheWisdomJournal – One of the best car accident stories I have heard lately was actually from a trial/personal injury lawyer who worked with car insurance companies for many years. The guy responsible for the accident told the lawyer that it would be hard to determine who’s fault it was (had hit another car that then hit the lawyers car). Lawyer said yea uh not so hard to determine that, and when they guy suggested he should talk to a lawyer, gave him his business card
Driving is one of the most dangerous things we do in our day to day lives. People who choose to drive without insurance are taking a risk they deserve to get punished for, as bad as I feel for him.
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I don’t understand why, when you register a car. Get new plates. or get new city sticker. Why you don’t have to show proof of insurance on the car. at that point.
this would solve so many problems.
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Luke F:
The other person would have been liable for the damage. However, my bf would have had to prosecute under small claims court, and there would be no way to guarantee that a hit and run guy would even show up, as evidence seems to suggest.
My mom was involved in a hit and run when I was very little. My parents did track the guy down and sued him in small claims court. The guy did not show up. Nothing more ever came of it. The guy probably never even got a ticket.
What would stop someone else from doing that? Good question. My advice: take the highest amount of coverage on an uninsured motorist policy that you can afford. If an uninsured motorist bails on you, it’s not easy to do anything about it.
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JD, I think it’s illegal for you NOT to report it. In California, you must report vehicle damage exceeding $500, and almost anything that happens to run into you will cause said damage. Just a ding can cost that much, if paint is involved.
So, you did the right thing from a legal standpoint. NEVER even contemplate taking money from someone who crashes into you.
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JD
Should you have taken the cash and let Jose go about his life without the possibly devastating consequences of dealing with the police? Your gut told you that the harm to him would be way greater than the harm to you. Your gut told you he was a guy struggling to get by and supporting his family. How good is your gut? How good is your gut in an unfamiliar place and situation?
First, you probably did the right thing. It wasn’t your car. The generous gesture wasn’t really yours to give. I’m not sure how the car rental company would have reacted to Jose’s wad of cash, though some other commenters have provided pretty good insight into that issue. I do know people who would have done just what you were tempted to do, let the guy go. And they are very good and caring people. The world is better for them.
When you make these kinds of gestures you have to accept that your generosity may be mistaken. Jose was probably what he seemed, a struggling immigrant Or he may have been a person who knows how to take advantage of people’s better natures. His life may not be as devastated as you think. I suspect the Berkely police can’t check out the immigration status of everyone they ticket for a fender bender, even when the driver doesn’t have a license or insurance.
But, back to my point. When you give money, which is what you would have been doing, to someone who appears to be in need but who you don’t really know, you have to accept that your money may or may not accomplish the good that you hope for. That’s OK. You just have to recognize that risk and be willing to make it.
I have a suggestion. If the incident still bothers you, perhaps you can find a charity that helps migrant workers and make a donation to them. It won’t help Jose specifically, but maybe someone else in his situation.
Very intersting post. Money is never just about money, is it?
Christine
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JD, your thought process shows the type of person that you are. I can vibe with you on why you hesitated to call the police as I would have done the same. The fact that you cared reflects your character. I also do think Jay made a great point. For the rest of you who are too quick to pull the trigger, walk on their shoes before you judge.
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No sympathy for Jose here. He chose to do illegal things (not have insurance, possibly enter the US illegally) and now he faces the consequences.
Actions have consequences. Illegal behavior often has bad consequences. Worrying about mitigating the bad legal consequences of illegal behavior is not a positive character trait. It’s a character flaw.
Please understand, I have many character flaws myself. So I am not condemning you for what I perceive as a character flaw in you.
And don’t anyone even start about me lacking compassion. I’m the guy who not only buys homeless bums a meal now and then, I will actually sit down to eat with them and listen to their stories and try to support them. I’m the guy who in the next 2 weeks is planning to cook a meal with his wife, then along with his wife and 9 year old son, is going to take that meal down under a bridge in a local town and eat it with the homeless. It’s ain’t about glory. Don’t even comment about it. It’s the least I can do for a suffering fellow human being. It’s not because I am some special kind of guy. The only reason I even mention it is because I take great offense at statements indicating that because I do not believe in mitigating legal consequences for illegal behavior that I am not a decent, compassionate being.
“Bleeding heart” compassion is a scourge on society.
True compassion is what makes the world a bit more beautiful.
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“…all that would happen to me is that my emergency fund would be drained.”
How many hours of work does your emergency fund represent? How long did it take to accumulate it? What would happen to your financial plans if something else happened in the near future, before you could replace it?
And, most importantly, how many comic books could it buy?
I’m just asking.
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So crazy time in the comments…
Glad to hear that nobody was hurt. I think in the long run it’s best to report the accident. Even if it’s your own car. Sometimes the long-term physical repercussions don’t set in until later on and while Jose doesn’t have insurance to pay you, it might be easier to get something from your own insurance company if you have proof that you were rear-ended, etc.
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“For those wondering about what happened after: when we drove away, the police were still talking with him, but it sounded like he was headed down to the station at least for a little while.”
My guess would be that they sent him home with a summons – driving w/o insurance is certainly not a detainable offense. I’m not sure about the license, but I doubt it. The immigration issue (if there is one) would be handled by a completely different level of government, and as I understand it local police are not even allowed to inquire about immigration status, and certainly they have no legal basis whatsoever to get involved. That is purely the domain of federal government.
Whether he will actually show up to court or not is up to him. He could skip out and then it would be up to the city to locate him among the 100,000 Jose Hernandez’es in California.
BTW, my mom was in a similar accident (with an uninsured, unlicensed motorist, probably of undocumented immigrant status), but the difference is that it was HER FAULT. Nevertheless, the police slapped big fine on the no-fault party for being uninsured and unlicensed. They were not very happy with my mom, for causing an accident, and then getting fined.
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I don’t have time to read through this whole thread, so forgive me if anyone has already hit on this topic.
It doesn’t matter if Jose was illegal. The Police in SF (and AFAIK Berkley) will not take action against illegal aliens involved in “routine” crimes like this. The philosophy is that if the Police detain (and potentially deport) illegals, they will be reluctant to call the Police when they are victims of a crime.
So just get that worry off your mind. Only the Feds deal with illegals in California, and the Police don’t send cases to the Feds (except in exceptional circumstances). Sure Jose will face the consequences, but your involvement with the police will not cause him to be deported (if he IS an illegal).
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F’r crying out loud.
If Jose were here illegally and his car suffered only cosmetic damage, he would have taken off like a rocket. Trust me: I know.
In California as in Arizona, it’s illegal to drive without insurance, and so the guy would have been facing two “crimes”: trying to support his family by working for slave wages in the United States and driving without insurance that he (and most of us) couldn’t afford. So a) it’s unlikely that he was a mojado (let’s use the jingoist term, since we seem to have plenty of jingoism going on here), otherwise he wouldn’t have hung around long enough to give you a name that translates roughly to “John Smith”; and b) it’s likely that he did not see the end of his world rolling toward him in the form of a fine for being uninsured.
So, now look at this hombre a hombre, man to man, HUMAN BEING TO HUMAN BEING. He hit you. You didn’t hit him. Whatever details he hasn’t taken care of in his personal business are his problem, not yours.
That Jose hung around long enough for the cops to show up says he was willing to take responsibility for his error or errors, whatever they might be. You don’t have to feel guilty for not engineering a way to let him off the hook. Just be glad you (and he) weren’t hurt.
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Your heart was in the right place when feeling bad for the guy. But you did the LEGAL and LAWFUL thing. My family and I migrated from Mexico legally about 10 years ago. While I will always sympathize with illegal aliens (specially of latin descent), I respect and live by the rules of this great country.
Don’t loose any sleep over this.
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@16, Nathan:
Oh, geez. JD didn’t say he was in the country illegally; he merely speculated that it was a possibility, and probably based on the man’s accent and level of English proficiency more than on his apparent ethnicity. What’s more, he observed that possibility as part of an expression of sympathy toward the man. Not every mention of race or immigration status is part of an attack. Chill.
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