Driving while Gringo (Police corruption alive and well in SD)

[the gorgon]

Gorgon, you evaluate a lot of cars for people. I don't know if you drive but if so what vehicle and what are your driving habits (night or no night ? ) Would you drive into SD ?

this was my hobby as a young man. drove, and navigated, the same make and model car. at one time, i owned two cars, but i will no longer drive in this country. people here cannot drive cars well.

[video=youtube_share;_whYok9mURQ]https://youtu.be/_whYok9mURQ[/video]

 

[chico bill]

this was my hobby as a young man. drove, and navigated, the same make and model car. at one time, i owned two cars, but i will no longer drive in this country. people here cannot drive cars well.

[video=youtube_share;_whYok9mURQ]https://youtu.be/_whYok9mURQ[/video]

Well if you drove as good as those drivers in the video the DR would seem a natural

Sent from my HTC One A9 using Tapatalk

 

[the gorgon]

Well if you drove as good as those drivers in the video the DR would seem a natural

Sent from my HTC One A9 using Tapatalk

actually, the DR is not a natural, because you have to have faith when you hang a car out like that that some mope is not going to be on the wrong side of the road when you are on the apex of the corner. some of those guys are better than i was, but i was also very fast. i just do not like to know i am looking head on at a guy who is in the wrong place.

 

[Caonabo]

this was my hobby as a young man. drove, and navigated, the same make and model car. at one time, i owned two cars, but i will no longer drive in this country. people here cannot drive cars well.

[video=youtube_share;_whYok9mURQ]https://youtu.be/_whYok9mURQ[/video]

People are quick to credit those drivers, but I think the people standing watch on the sides of the track possess cojones de acero. This should have been the OP's reaction when "Rafael" reputedly requested his weapon and attempted to enter his vehicle. To each their own, but I think the original narrative has more holes than Swiss cheese.

 

[william webster]

Standing on the side of the track.......

our friend Escott was doing just that at a motorcycle wheely event

They clunked into him and almost killed him/// flattened him

TV is where to watch..............IMO

 

[the gorgon]

People are quick to credit those drivers, but I think the people standing watch on the sides of the track possess cojones de acero. This should have been the OP's reaction when "Rafael" reputedly requested his weapon and attempted to enter his vehicle. To each their own, but I think the original narrative has more holes than Swiss cheese.

great observation. the spectators are every bit as crazy as the drivers..[video=youtube_share;u-bEzUipmWc]https://youtu.be/u-bEzUipmWc[/video]

 

[MarkDR]

People are quick to credit those drivers, but I think the people standing watch on the sides of the track possess cojones de acero.

How about the people standing on the sides of the street (and getting in and out of cars) as public cars weave their way around traffic like maniacs?

 

[Caonabo]

These drivers and their cars remind me of the reaction of most men here within the RD when they hear that there is a new bartender working in the local carwash.

 

[LTSteve]

actually, i do not recall lecturing anybody. i made a simple statement about a simple matter of fact. i was not even addressing my observations to the guy in the original posting. i am talking about all the people who ´post never ending rants against the Dominican police and military, as if they invented dishonesty.

and yes, i have first hand knowledge of corrupt cops in Canada. i know guys who have been shaken down, and robbed, in both the USA, and Canada. i do not get my knowledge of these matters from the tv...

as far as sense of entitlement...what do you think of carrying a firearm without proper document status?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We really don't care what happened in Toronto. Yes, we get it that there is corruption all over the world. I am sure a guy who was a NYC cop for 30 years does not have to be told this by you. I am not sure what you are talking about when you state....what do you think of carrying a firearm without proper document status. The original poster said he has a cedula and a gun permit? Am I missing something? No the Dominican police didn't invent dishonesty ,but they have certainly perfected it.

 

[JLA1125]

As far as your "danger" stat goes, let me break it down further for you into bite-size pieces, based on stats from the Ministry of Health from personal interviews for a future road safety project: 70% of injury accidents and deaths are motos. 80% of those happen at night. 80% of those involve alcohol. See a trend developing, and a safety-mitigation plan emerging?

So, you're saying that drunk driving only presents a danger to the person driving drunk, not anyone else, huh? Tell that to my friend down here who got hit by a drunk driver while stopped at traffic light. Oh, wait. I'm sorry, you can't tell him that. Because he's dead!

 

[the gorgon]

Standing on the side of the track.......

our friend Escott was doing just that at a motorcycle wheely event

They clunked into him and almost killed him/// flattened him

TV is where to watch..............IMO

if you love it enough, you will take the risk. the smell of burning Castrol Racing Oil is worth it..

 

[the gorgon]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We really don't care what happened in Toronto. Yes, we get it that there is corruption all over the world. I am sure a guy who was a NYC cop for 30 years does not have to be told this by you. I am not sure what you are talking about when you state....what do you think of carrying a firearm without proper document status. The original poster said he has a cedula and a gun permit? Am I missing something? No the Dominican police didn't invent dishonesty ,but they have certainly perfected it.

blah, blah, blah, blah , blah.

let me try this again.

i remove the OP from this equation...it is not about him, in my opinion.

it is about all the foreigners who come here, benefit from the lax laws, and corruption, then bawl about a cop at a road stop hustling them for a few bucks.

heck, how many foreigners in the DR have restaurants which would not stay open for a week in a place like California, but they are open in the DR because, God forbid a sanitary inspector passes by, a 1000 peso bill makes the mice on top of the stove go away. then a cop wants a 100 peso at a roadblock, and we begin to get all the sermons about aiding and abetting corruption. i know foreigners here who have never bothered to apply for residence, but they have buddies at immigration who stamp their passports every so often, so as to create the image that they have been here less than three months. these same people also bawl about the immorality and corruption of Dominicans.


Phooey. a pox on all their houses.

 

[JLA1125]

As far as your "danger" stat goes, let me break it down further for you into bite-size pieces, based on stats from the Ministry of Health from personal interviews for a future road safety project: 70% of injury accidents and deaths are motos. 80% of those happen at night. 80% of those involve alcohol. See a trend developing, and a safety-mitigation plan emerging?

I made it quite clear in my first post that I have chosen NOT to drive in the DR, yet another poster stated that my choice to not drive in the DR was somehow "absurd"? Please explain to me how much more "safety-mitigating" I can get.

 

[william webster]

JLA
you certainly aren't alone in the 'No Drive' club

It could fill an auditorium....a popular choice for many

and not that odd
my friend grew up in Montreal... never needed to drive
She was over 50 before learning
Lots of urbanites see no need to drive whatsoever....
no car, no license.

Sto Dom is a good example of not needing a car any place that can covered on foot - is the other end of the spectrum

 

[cobraboy]

So, you're saying that drunk driving only presents a danger to the person driving drunk, not anyone else, huh? Tell that to my friend down here who got hit by a drunk driver while stopped at traffic light. Oh, wait. I'm sorry, you can't tell him that. Because he's dead!

I never once insinuated that. Drunk drivers maim and kill innocents all the time.

 

[cobraboy]

I made it quite clear in my first post that I have chosen NOT to drive in the DR, yet another poster stated that my choice to not drive in the DR was somehow "absurd"? Please explain to me how much more "safety-mitigating" I can get.

The dangers you cited are absurd, not your decision not to drive.

IMO, you made a wise choice for those who do drive.

Driving in the DR is not for all. One must be able to adapt to the DR driving culture as it has evolved over the years. You are the foreign body here. Like a foreign body injected into the bloodstream, adapt or "die", because the culture is not going to change for you.

 

[wuarhat]

That, and get off the roads during and right after Happy Hour...

Get your business done before dark, but the colmado still delivers if you've forgotten something.

 

[wuarhat]

There are all sorts of things one can to to reduce the risk of dying prematurely:

1) Don't take up skydiving.
2) Don't keep venomous animals as pets
3) Don't climb Mount Everest
4) Don't peer over the rim of an active volcano
5) Don't eat puffer fish
6) Wear a helmet and leather when riding a motorcycle (no flip flops either)
7) Don't swim in bilibongs
8) Don't drink too much
9) Don't borrow money from the mob
10) Don't drive! (in this country or anywhere else)
...

Don't self medicate on opioids.

 

[JLA1125]

The dangers you cited are absurd, not your decision not to drive.

IMO, you made a wise choice for those who do drive.

Driving in the DR is not for all. One must be able to adapt to the DR driving culture as it has evolved over the years. You are the foreign body here. Like a foreign body injected into the bloodstream, adapt or "die", because the culture is not going to change for you.

"Driving culture" my a$$. I live in a town where it is not uncommon for people, including gringos, to drive down the street doing over 100 mph. Just because they can. I don't call that a "driving culture". I call it what it really is: stupid, wreckless, and extremely dangerous very everyone. You can cite all the statistics you want from the Ministry of Whatever. It does not change the FACT that the Dominican Republic has the highest traffic fatality rate of any country in the Western Hemisphere. That is a shameless and embarrassing fact for any country to own, regardless of their so called "driving culture". In any country that owns that fact, it's impossible to call the dangers of driving "absurd".

 

[cobraboy]

"Driving culture" my a$$. I live in a town where it is not uncommon for people, including gringos, to drive down the street doing over 100 mph. Just because they can. I don't call that a "driving culture". I call it what it really is: stupid, wreckless, and extremely dangerous very everyone. You can cite all the statistics you want from the Ministry of Whatever. It does not change the FACT that the Dominican Republic has the highest traffic fatality rate of any country in the Western Hemisphere. That is a shameless and embarrassing fact for any country to own, regardless of their so called "driving culture". In any country that owns that fact, it's impossible to call the dangers of driving "absurd".

100mph?

Sorry, I'm calling baloney.

But, plesase, for MY safety please stay off the roads. I'll even supply some yarn for knitting...