Accident in sosua

Which is why I never get on a bike.

does nothing happen anywhere else ?

jrhartley said:

does nothing happen anywhere else ?

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Nope, just here in the D.R.
Get used to it, it's called news.

We are not allowed to post about "anywhere else", must be D.R. related, forum rules.

Don

jrhartley said:

does nothing happen anywhere else ?

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I assume that you were referring to the fact that the accident occurred in Sosua rather than another part of the Dominican Republic, would that be right?

I see a huge amount of crashes and usually because someone on a bike thinks he is bigger than a car, neither really knowing what they are doing anyway. We have lived all over the world and by international standards Dominicans are pretty good drivers.
In the city no one really knows what is going on, people just blast the horn and follow the cars infront until something gives or a gap opens up to move into or if in a taxi then the gap need not be there. One thing that is amazing here is the speed at which this all happens, they do drive fast and even in heavy traffic so it rarely gets to a standstill where nothing is moving, which is good.

But in general Dominican are crap drivers, but like everything else, they think they are great and know everything so it is okay.

The collisions i've seen have either been low speed with minor damage or horrendous with loss of life. Is there a Dominican driver that could function in North America without going to jail? That person would be the exception rather than the rule.

imo, things happen all over the DR but the reason you only hear about the things that happen in sosua and other gringo-laden areas is because thats where the tourists and expats tend to be. and those are the people who post on here.

so it makes it seem like nothing ever happens elsewhere. i really think people should keep that in mind before assuming bad things only occur on the north coast.

if there were a bunch of expats in bani, you'd constantly hear news related to expats there. common sense.

that said, the accident sounds terrible and i hope they all recover asap. driving here at night can be treacherous.

DRNED said:

I ... have lived all over the world and by international standards Dominicans are pretty good drivers.
>
But in general Dominican are crap drivers...

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So which is it?
The problem is that apparently headlights are expensive. Blinding high beams or no lights because the low beams filament is burned out.

RacerX said:

So which is it?
The problem is that apparently headlights are expensive. Blinding high beams or no lights because the low beams filament is burned out.

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Neither in my opinion. People have loads of money in the city, they crash into each other and buy new panels, no problem. On the other side of things those who drive in the rather more weathered cars just thieve the parts they don't have.

So really finances don't come into it as far as I can see.

DRNED said:

Neither in my opinion. People have loads of money in the city, they crash into each other and buy new panels, no problem. On the other side of things those who drive in the rather more weathered cars just thieve the parts they don't have.

So really finances don't come into it as far as I can see.

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I see you put a lot of thought into this post!

Afgan said:

In the middle of the night a Russian couple got into accident on the motobike trying to escape a head-on collision with an SUV driving full speed without headlights.

Woman (single mom) - was operated and had removed kidney and broken leg. Heavy bleeding.

Man - broken arm and concussion.

Bike - totalled.

Dominican drivers use either blinding high beam or no headlight at all. Why?

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I'm sorry to hear this. But have to make an observation.

1. Most Dominicans (outside Sosua) drive rather normal and use their headlights, usually highbeam, because of lack of proper lighted roads; I do this myself too.

2. Over the last years I've noticed that most drivers lower their highbeams at a reasonable distance so they won't blind you, provided you do the same. The most noticeable exception are the publico's at night.

3. There are still a fair number of moto's and old publico's on the road that have bad lighting. Mostly one light up front and maybe a reflector on the back. This is a part of traffic and you're likely to experience it if you drive at night time. Most of the time these drivers are careful, so you notice them or they go out of your way.

Sos?a Habits

Afgan said:

accident on the motobike trying to escape a head-on collision with an SUV driving full speed without headlights.

Dominican drivers use either blinding high beam or no headlight at all. Why?

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Sos?a you say?
Do we know whether the SUV driver was a Dominican and not a gringo?

donP

donP said:

Sos?a you say?
Do we know whether the SUV driver was a Dominican and not a gringo?

donP

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And if a Dominican, was the driver visiting from New York?
Were both the driver's parents Dominican or was one a gringo?

If a gringo, what country was the driver from?
If the U.K., or one of the other countries that drive reverse of the D.R., perhaps the driver got confused.

Did the driver even have a driver's license?

Did the driver recently get religion and only thought he had "seen the light"?

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I see your point donP.

Perhaps the driver was not Dominican after all, that was an assumption.
The driver could have just been carrying old habits from another 3rd World country.

One thing for sure, the driver of the SUV will swear it was not his fault.


Don

Tamborista said:

I see you put a lot of thought into this post!

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Not really, the obvious doesn't take much thought for me, it is after all 'obvious'. I am putting more thought into understanding what your contribution is about and the point of it,

"People have loads of money in the city....."
DRNED

I have tried, but I just don't see how that is an 'obvious' statement. There are loads of people with very little money, and some people with loads of money, but most cities have a variety of socio-economic groups.

And the thieving part, well that is just plain weird.

Tambo's contributions are usually quite substantial. You just have to understand what he is saying. In this particular case, I think he was saying DRNED didn't put too much thought into his post.

the worst driving I see here is usually a euro/american type person in the driving seat - one expects them to stick to the rules(or one used to )

Now live in Santiago for 2 years and still take a taxi and Metro wherever I go. Drove on a daily basis in the states for 45 years with 1 accident. I came close to buying a car here 6 weeks ago and then I woke up. Decided to leave the insane driving to the locals. All considering, taxis everywhere I go, every day, is still cheaper than owning.
There is 1 regular taxi driver I call and his car is better than any car I would have bought for myself. Most anywhere in Santiago for 100-125 DP.

Sorry to hear about the Russians misadventure. I will NEVER ride on a moto or for that matter in a taxi. I have lived in countries (developed/undeveloped) all over the world and find Dominicans drivers to be among the worst.

For a group of people who are in no hurry to do anything, you put them behind the wheel of a car and they have to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. Makes no sense.

It has always seemed to me that people in developing countries just don't value human life as much as those in the developed world. Especially their own life. I was in Santo Domingo last weekend and was amazed at how often Dominicans put themselves in very dangerous situations... either as a pedestrian or in a car. Maybe I'm just obsessed with personal safety.

Driving without lights or with the high-beams on seems to be an issue throughout the developing world. I've experienced it all over. With respect to high-beams, I actually find Trinidad worse than the DR.

I think part of the unsafe driving is a result of the collectivist society. People here are much more likely to accommodate other drivers bad behavior. They anticipate that the cars around them will cut them off or the guy in front will slam on the brakes (with no brake lights of course). Those same driving habits in North America will get then in an accident in minutes.

Well... that's my 2 cents. With all that said, I still drive every day in the DR and feel relatively safe as long as I'm behind the wheel. The key is to drive a well built car with front AND side airbags. Most of the cars you see on the road would fall apart with a simple kick to the bumper.

The driving habbits of Dominicans could be down to a lack of road sense! In most countries you learn to drive with a school of motoring before taking a test where you cannot bribe someone to hit the right computor buttons for you or to tick the box to say that you passed the practical test. Has anyone here ever seen a school of motoring vehicle driving around?