I have come to the conclusion that I cannot trust that the road will be clear around a blind corner, as folks frequently stop/park in the most dangerous locations.
I firmly believe that they just don't understand the implications.
They see their friend, they pull over, they stop, they chat..... that's all that is going on in their minds at that moment.
I have readjusted my driving accordingly.
I'm sure that bus drivers know this too, but their desire to race (specially guaguas, trying to get to the next client first) is greater than their desire to be cautious.
Nothing will make this change, except the owners of the fleet vehicles exerting pressure on their own drivers.
The owners would be money motivated to do so, and money makes the world go round. (ie: The loss of the vehicle, potential lawsuits, higher insurance rates, etc)
Government legislation or the threat of long prison sentences, will not change a thing.
We can hope that the media coverage and online clip posted in this thread, will motivate the owners of public transport fleet vehicles, to make some changes/rules/regulations that will help reduce this type of incident.
To think that anything could stop fools from parking in the middle of the road wherever they damn well please, is nothing but a pipe dream.
Many many years going by will change that, but there is nothing that can be done today and it would be a waste of time to even try.
It may seem insensible to point the finger at the moment of such a horrendous accident and suffering. But IT IS EXACTLY the RIGHT MOMENT.
The culprit of a good 80% of "accidents" can easily be routed back to "YO PRIMERO"! It would seem that to Latin men, who usually can be quite slow paced, one only has to put either a woman or a steering wheel in front of their nose and the absolutely NEED to come FIRST (pun intended).
Women drive better than men, at least in this country... they are not steered by testosterone.
The "what if" question is virtually non-existent... even long after "what if" became "voila"... then it becomes both,
no es mi culpa and
ai, que mala suerte... even the second and third time around (same scenario, same locations, same everything!)
Rocky got it right, jail ain't gonna help, but taking vehicles off the road and auctioning them off will maybe not make all of them big thinkers but I will limit some of the typical actions and non actions quite rapidly.
Vehicles without lights (less than 40%), no brakes and other technically vital elements should be scraped right off the road.
Remember the latest accident near Montellano with the truck who broke off his gear shift stick in an effort to slow down (certainly NO brakes). Have the owner's and operators vehicles seized (ALL of them) and any in bad condition trashed terminally and the rest auctioned off in favor of the victims... you do that 2 or 3 times and it won't happen again.
The overloads we seem to enjoy making photos off, should be forced to be off loaded ON THE SPOT... in a week you will stop seeing them and the little over turned trucks here and there.
Insurance law has to be changed. It is not the insurer who has to be protected in liability cases, it's the victim. What is a
seguro de ley which covers about USD 3000.oo of liability good for? It's a bad copy of the already inequitable US system. The victim has to be covered no matter what the driver's or owner financial back ground.
Driving motorized vehicles are not a right, it's a privilege because it's a liability, period. Thus it does not come cheap. There is no room for
pero yo tambien tengo que ganarme la vida, NONE at all. You want to make a living on the road or just cruise on up and down the
Malecon? You do that responsibly or NOT AT ALL, period. If you can't, WALK and you will come to understand that it would be nice that the vehicles passing you, will carry insurance so that if they will harm you accidentally, you will be cared for to the best possible.
I am toying with the idea of having some large stickers printed with a very graphic picture of yesterday's
carnage and the wording:
QUE, TAMBIEN QUIERES SER PRIMERO?
(Picture)
La Romana-Higuey, 15 de Agosto.
Frankly they should become mandatory on all buses and other "public" vehicles.
... J-D.
