One thing you don't want to do is bring a gun into Mexico or ammunition you might not see the light of day for a long long time .
True. It's a little more severe there in Mexico.
I mentioned earlier where we said we preferred not to drive because having an accident in Mexico can be a really negative fiasco.
In Chapala, the 'rule' in the Gringo community, was that if one is in an auto accident, one should leave the scene immediately. I have always had a hard time with that 'rule' due to my innate sense of being responsible, but this point is illustrated in the following story:
A woman well known in the Gringo community was coming home at dusk one evening and a young boy ran out into the street from between parked cars. She hit him, and the young boy suffered a severe head injury. Being the kindhearted woman she was, she stayed at the scene and waited for the police, the ambulance and the family to arrive.
Her car was impounded, and she was summarily thrown in jail. Now to be thrown in jail in Mexico.... the priests come once a day to feed prisoners. There is no sanitary items given, no blankets, and there was a hole in the floor for her to uh.. well you know. There is no due process, no phone call to a friend or to a lawyer.
After a day or two, and Ms. Gringo didn't arrive at her normal appointments the Gringo community put it together what had happened, and gathered together food, supplies, toiletries, and so on, plus someone who could help her to 'negotiate' her way out of jail.
She ended up paying $$ to get out of jail, and paying something to the family to cover the hospital bills and the therapy the boy would need. I don't know if she got her car back...That was really the least of her worries...
She felt terrible, it was truly an accident, and so there ya are. Things are just not set up the same way as they are in the States. This is one reason we like to take public transport.
Akaisha
Author,
The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement