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If you happen to live on the west coast it's a simple matter to hop over the border into Mexico for a little fun in the sun. Americans do it all the time. We've been doing it for decades! Before you cross over, however, make sure you do a little homework. Americans are held strictly liable under Mexican law, and if you happen to get caught driving with a California car insurance policy on Mexican soil you could be in a heap of trouble before your vacation even begins.

You see, Mexico doesn't recognize an American car insurance policy as valid. It's not accepted by any of the hospitals or repair shops from the border cities south, which is extremely bad news if you've caused an accident. Now those repairs are going to have to come out of your pocket, and since it's strictly against the law to drive in Mexico without carrying a Mexican liability car insurance policy of $20,000 USD per incident you're probably going to jail.

That's a harsh way to start your vacation.

Since car insurance, or the lack thereof, can completely ruin your vacation before it even begins it pays to make sure you're protected BEFORE you decide to head south of the border. Believe it or not, unlike getting a passport or a vacation visa picking up a temporary car insurance policy when you're on Mexican soil is easy. There are a number of Arizona and California car insurance companies that work hand in hand with Mexican insurers to offer Americans vacationing in Mexico short term coverage of a day, a week, a month, six months or a year (or whatever their policies happen to be). You can easily purchase one of these in advance, making sure you're covered long before you ever drive off U.S. soil.

If you forgot to pick up an insurance policy before you left there are plenty of opportunities on the other side of the border as well, although you may find yourself filling out a little more paperwork. Make sure you've got the address of your hotel! Border towns thrive on tourism with the U.S., and there are plenty of insurance agents in these border towns who would be happy to sell you a short term car insurance policy.

Most of these policies don't include comprehensive or collision coverage. Some California car insurance policies may continue to cover you with comprehensive and collision for a certain distance over the border (usually around 300 miles) but it would be smarter to add this onto your Mexican insurance policy than to spend the entire trip squinting at your odometer. Another thing you're going to find is that your insurance policy is probably going to offer you the opportunity to receive assistance with your legal fees. As Mexican police have been known to find Americans guilty until proven innocent when they're on Mexican roads this is probably going to be worth the added expense.

The bottom line is that your California car insurance policy isn't going to protect you or your car once you get over the border. It's going to be up to you to make sure you have a Mexican insurance policy that will.

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