Originally Posted by farqhuar

Xfiltrate, thank you for your reply, however, I maintain my disagreement.

I will respond in teal and in the interest of the monitors and our readers keep it as brief and understandable as possible. xfiltrate

Sadly, you have not responded to my comments with regard to "morality" at all. You also make the assumption that if I was to injure a 3rd party I would attempt to wriggle out of any obligations. I am sufficiently wealthy to more than fund any compensation to injured parties - well in excess of any insurance coverage requirements for countries I travel through.
I will respond to the "morality" question later. As you have stated rules for the wealthy and the masses could be very different. My argument for not forging documents is directed toward the masses. As a self proclaimed wealthy person controlling sufficient resources to fund any compensation the problem my comments were not directed at you. The basic problem the wealthy have is that at the scene of an accident, "on the sport" and in "the fog of war," so to speak, the injured might not be able to access the amount of compensation necessary for you to meet your obligations.

Apart from 1st world countries (where IDPs are typically not required in any case),
I disagree, various forms of IDPs are required throughout Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
when you travel outside your home country it is just about impossible to take out any insurance, other than what is mandatorily required by law when you enter a new country.
As a member of the wealthy elite, you certainly can afford vehicle/motorcycle insurance well beyond the mandatory minimums,there is no absence of insurance companies in "new countries." as a tourist, I have purchased additional coverage in 8 South American, four Central American countries, and of course throughout the EU.
This insurance is typically limited to third party personal damage - in other words, injury to person (s) that you cause whilst travelling on a public road.Here, we finally agree, yes the mandatory insurance will only cover property damage and personal injury for property you damage or people you inure. Which brings up an interesting point, how do you negotiate with a corpse to determine the amount of compensation necessary to meet your obligations?

In addition, as you say, the insurance company will use any excuse it can to weasel out of its obligations and is generally not worth the paper it is written on, never mind the money you pay for it.
No, I said forging documents will probably be cause for the insurance company to avoid paying your liabilities. And yes there are other reasons that insurance companies will recuse themselves. No< I did not say mandatory third world insurance is "not worth the paper it is written on." which brings up an excellent point. If your documents are not forged, you and your bike is legally in the country and you have purchased the mandatory insurance, what you are really buying is the insurance companies influence on the judicial system. For example, you will go directly to jail in the event of substantial property damage or severe personal injury - police arrive while you are attempting to negotiate with the person you just killed by accident. I would pay to witness you convincing the arresting officer that you are of the wealthy class and will meet all your obligations. Yes you might be able to bribe, but as I said, my comments are directed toward the masses reading here - not the wealthy elite like you.

Should you actually have an accident, regardless of whether you are at fault, I am sure you would be aware, in other than 1st world countries the normal method of compensation is a form of negotiation whereby you financially compensate the other party with cash, on the spot. On the spot compensation will suffice for minor accidents, but my premise is not based upon minor accidents and I have already addressed the issue of the difficulty of negotiating with a corpse.

With respect to accidents in 1st world countries, I would like to use my home country as an example.

In Australia, every person who is injured on a road by any other person - in any incident, even a single vehicle accident, or even falling over crossing a road, is automatically covered by law for medical fees, long term disability and time away from work. This applies regardless of who is fault and regardless of whether any party is unlicensed, uninsured or in breach of any road laws.
Yes, socialized medicine takes care of the medical aspects of an accident in Australia, but does Australia's comprehensive medical care provide your attorneys fees when you are sued in civil court, and does Australia's comprehensive medical care pay the civil damages awarded to the victim for loss of work or ability to work in the future? Will Australia's comprehensive medical care bail you out of jail when discovered you have forged the documents for the title of your motorcycle? In the civil trial will having forged documents not be become an issue? Of course it will, if your were operating a vehicle for which you have forged documents, that will weigh in determining the amount of compensation a civil court will award your victim. And, you will pay that amount, not Australia.

Next week it will be 45 years since I obtained my motorcycle licence. Since then I have spent many of those years outside of Australia living, riding, driving and bicycling in just about every country on this planet. I am yet to have a collision with any other vehicle or person and have received only one traffic infringement (in Canada, for driving in the emergency lane when my engine was overheating), but have hit a number of animals and have also fallen off on poor roads (I elected not to seek compensation from the animal's family or from the government road builders in these instances).
Thank you for sharing your excellent driving record with us, but I don't see its' relivence here. Are you suggesting it is OK to forge documents because you have not had a major accident during the last 45 years? It is not always about you!

So you see, there is no moral issue at all.
Now, for the morality issue. Perhaps we agree that the morality issue discussed here is centered around meeting one's obligations to the victim of an accident for which you are at fault. And, perhaps we can agree that forging documents might null and void any purchased insurance, consequently reducing the possibility of meeting one's obligations to a victim of an accident you have caused would be an immoral act.