Two Views of Mexican and U.S. Laws

* I am upset with Gustav Lopez’s Nov. 23 letter.

I really don’t believe U.S. citizens think Mexico’s drinking and driving laws are any different. There is one major difference [when] driving under the influence of alcohol on U.S. highways and in Mexico.

In the U.S. one can drive illegally without insurance, get free medical care if necessary, then sue the restaurant or bar that served you and go home rich.

In Mexico you go straight to jail and there is no medical care with or without money. And never think you can sue anyone.

LINDA FINCH

Long Beach

* Re “Fatal Car Wreck Mars Reunion,” Nov. 8:

The tragic death of Keith Takabayashi, a 31-year-old Santa Ana man who died this month in a one-car accident near Rosarito Beach, Mexico, has renewed the debate about the dangers Americans face when they cross the border.

Whereas the families and friends of the other two men critically injured in the accident criticize Mexican authorities for detaining the victims and demanding high bail amounts before their release, Mexican authorities defend their actions, explaining that the Mexican legal system allows prosecutors to detain people for up to 48 hours after any incident in which people are injured or property is damaged to determine who is at fault.

Though Takabayashi died at the scene of the accident, the other two men were transported to a Mexican jail and held on $11,000 bond each despite life-threatening injuries.

One victim was detained for 48 hours--first in a Mexican jail with cement floors, open toilets and flies, and then in a Tijuana hospital under police guard before his release.

The second victim, who sustained a broken pelvis, cracked ribs, a bruised lung, ruptured spleen, massive bruises and a skinned head in the accident, was held for nearly 22 hours before his family could transfer him to a U.S. hospital for life-saving medical treatment.

Unfortunately, these types of abusive practices are not isolated. In August, the family of Donald Kraft, a 44-year-old San Diego man who was severely injured in a two-car collision in Mexico, had to pay Mexican authorities $7,000 before they could transfer him to a U.S. hospital, where he later died.

Recent tragedies like these dramatize the dangers U.S. citizens face in Mexico and the profound differences between Mexican and American law.

They also underscore the immediate need for the federal government to secure a long-term solution with the Mexican government that will ensure the health and safety of all U.S. citizens who sustain critical injuries in Mexico.

State and local governments must also implement more efficient legal, medical and communication systems to help safeguard the lives of their residents who travel in Mexico.

SUZANNE EVANS

Manhattan Beach