just a thought

[laurapasinifan]

celt , I see that all the time all over the country.

But i think it is any motorcyle they find that isnt registered...as opposed to anything like a helmet violation.......

when they want to they can load that truck up fast with motorcycles!! ha ha ha

bob

 

[Celt202]

celt , I see that all the time all over the country.

But i think it is any motorcyle they find that isnt registered...as opposed to anything like a helmet violation.......

when they want to they can load that truck up fast with motorcycles!! ha ha ha

bob

One of the kids delivering from the local colmado got a ticket from an Amet a few months ago for not wearing a helmet. That's the only time I know for sure that there was a penalty for not wearing a helmet.

They didn't impound the pasola but I wonder if there is a computer connection between unpaid tickets and license renewal.

Occasionally I see them stopping a public car (the sardine taxis in the capital) but that is spotty and the number of them circulating with expired stickers, cracked windshields and missing license plates is amazing.

Pa'lante que vamos...........with baby steps :disappoin

As I told my brother and his wife when I picked them up at the airport a year ago "This ain't Grand Prairie."

 

[laurapasinifan]

the damaged cars brings up a point. I could really care less about the number and registration of the motorcycles. Sure there are a lot of them and they do crazy stuff...but for the most part they endanger themselves and not us other drivers...I did say for the most part.

If I could have my way and a place to start, for the cops to crack down...

I dont think id address drinking, nor motorcycles, nor seat belts.

Id have them spend 95% of their time making sure those huge trucks are safe. I see wheels wobbling 6 " either way...I know they are not keeping those trucks maintained safely...why>>>because it cost money to keep a big rig safe....but poor people need to make money and they cant afford a safe truck and the truck itself!!!

those big rigs and busses are the most dangerous things in my opinion...when they go they are taking lives....how many people die when a motorcycle crashes.....now how about a huge truck.....

I see them going down the road with no sheet metal on the whole front end!!!! just the motor sitting there...nom lights no bumper....!!!!!!! they are over loaded many times and about to tip over it looks like.

thats just me though

bob

 

[morlandg]

I saw the following road sign in Middlesbrough UK many years ago:

GET IN LANE THEN WEAVE

 

[AZB]

What is the big deal here?
Just follow the laws as you do in USA and you will be fine here.
Do not ride a motorcycle or scooter without a helmet (its the law), when driving a car, make sure you have your seat belts on, do not talk on cell phone and have all proper documents in the car, do not run read lights, which means, obey the traffic rules. Who cares what other dominicans are doing, just do your part to protect yourself and thats it.
Is this very hard to figure out?
I live here 24/7 and believe me, I know what I am talking about.
Now stop with this gringo talk, how dominicans do this and that, just follow the rules and live in peace.
AZB

 

[jruane44]

What is the big deal here?
Just follow the laws as you do in USA and you will be fine here.
Do not ride a motorcycle or scooter without a helmet (its the law), when driving a car, make sure you have your seat belts on, do not talk on cell phone and have all proper documents in the car, do not run read lights, which means, obey the traffic rules. Who cares what other dominicans are doing, just do your part to protect yourself and thats it.
Is this very hard to figure out?
I live here 24/7 and believe me, I know what I am talking about.
Now stop with this gringo talk, how dominicans do this and that, just follow the rules and live in peace.
AZB

How can anyone argue with you on this. Great advise.

 

[laurapasinifan]

I love the little 'gringo " dagger right there at the end.. ha ha ha ha

it is just so tempting to throw in there huh??

MY dominican buddies complain about the tickets too...because they are given to wealthier drivers as well

the day iw as given a ticket on JFK in santo domingo a huge new SUV pulled up just past us and the driver opened the door and yelled at the cop for giving out a ticket... and he was dominican!!

bob

 

[AZB]

I love the little 'gringo " dagger right there at the end.. ha ha ha ha

it is just so tempting to throw in there huh??

MY dominican buddies complain about the tickets too...because they are given to wealthier drivers as well

the day iw as given a ticket on JFK in santo domingo a huge new SUV pulled up just past us and the driver opened the door and yelled at the cop for giving out a ticket... and he was dominican!!

bob

So the dominican police shouldn't give out tickets for not wearing seatbelts. I see the point.
AZB

 

[Janin]

The Preacher

... do not run read lights, which means, obey the traffic rules....
Is this very hard to figure out?
.... just follow the rules and live in peace.
AZB

... I ran 4 red lights last night, but...
AZB

...preach otherwise.

Janin

 

[AZB]

You are only a thief until you are caught. I am not the one complaining of tickets, I receive non. I am smart enough to know when to break and not to break the law. Seems like many folks haven't figured this out yet. So if you don't want any tickets and are not smart enough to know when to break the traffic law, then its best to follow the law and stay away from any unnecessary headaches.
AZB

 

[Steve Costa Azul]

You are only a thief until you are caught. I am not the one complaining of tickets, I receive non. I am smart enough to know when to break and not to break the law. Seems like many folks haven't figured this out yet. So if you don't want any tickets and are not smart enough to know when to break the traffic law, then its best to follow the law and stay away from any unnecessary headaches.
AZB

Ummmmm, I think you meant to say, "when, or once" you are caught. :cheeky:

 

[Bronxboy]

In the eyes of God, you do not have to be caught to be a thief.

I would not call "taking the red light'' stealing though.

In Puerto Rico, you are allowed to take the red light at night. This is to prevent carjackings.

 

[laurapasinifan]

I seriously doubt any of us would complain about tickets if we saw that they are being handed out equally.... thats the point of the thread

the dominican police laying it on the backs of the tourist or the wealthy.

When the ticket is 50 pesos...I am sure you all know that doesnt bother us who gets them...and I have only received two...but it is part of the discussion about what is wrong in the DR.

I guess we shoudl just shut up when we are treated badly....if we get robbed..is your answer.."dont come here'??

if we get a ticket is the answer shut up and pay it or dont come here?

is that the only option eat the crap or dont come???

well thats certainly is one opinion....

it aint enough for me to make that big a deal, but since the thread went up...Ill add to it, because I dont believe in sticking it to the gringo..

one reason ,,because I am the gringo!!

heck i threw the one ticket out the window while I could still see the cop in Santo Domingo.

bob

 

[Robert]

I have received one ticket in 5 years of driving here and I drive here everyday and more than most of you that post on DR1. The ticket was my fault, I got caught red-handed jumping a light.

You have to remember who AMET are dealing with, Dominicans!
AMET have to be hard and show a complete lack of common sense, basically black and white. If you give the average Dominican driver an inch, they will take a mile.

For every gringo that get's a ticket, 1000's more are handed out to Dominicans.
I have seen AMET write tickets all over Santo Domingo, in the rich and poor areas.

Forget your US morals or common sense, it doesn't apply here, your in the DR now, it's a different ball game, adapt or die

 

[laurapasinifan]

Forget your US morals or common sense, it doesn't apply here, your in the DR now, it's a different ball game, adapt or die

I loved this part......because i learned to drive just like a dominican soon after I started renting cars there....pass pass pass. brake and go at lights....do what ever you wanted...you only saw police in the cities anyway...thats where I calmed down a lot and drove defensively....

you may just go BACKWARDS at traffic jams if you are passive!!!!!

although now days i hear they are cracking down onrunning red lights.. and that you would have to go to school or take a remedial course if you are caught running a red light.

i wonder what the result would be for a foreigner renting a car after he ran a red light...

before it seemed the police cars wouldnt have a chance of even catching up to you , if they even wanted to...but this last year almost all the police cars I see are new suvs!!!!!!

I dont think I have ever seen a dominican get a ticket...i saw an AMET cop chastizing a dominican in the middle of Las carreras in Santiago one day....he may have eventually given him a ticket though.

funny I also have seen on the same road a car run a red light and actually hit a bus in the rear quarter panel. An AMET saw the whole thing and walked over......the guy that hit the bus actually got out of his car...and the bus driver just hung out the window and yelled after he stopped... the cop came over and ran his hand on the damage and "blessed" it as being too insignificant to tie up traffic and told the bus to just keep going. ha ha ha

but the damage was much more than significant to me......the guy buckled the rear side of the bus.

maybe it was just because the bus really isnt a personal vehicle that the cop just told the driver forget about it!!

but the guy who hit the bus ran the red light!! and got no ticket.

just goes to show how dynaimc the cops really are...you just dont know what will happen.

I dont think walking AMET cops pay any attention to motorscooters...when they use a truck to pick up all those things, it is a well planned action, that they go out in search of motorcycle to confiscate.

bob

 

[DOMINCAN BOY]

How do these people get away with this ? Photo on loan from rocky

 

[Robert]

How old are those photos? What location? etc etc. In a small town they could maybe get away with it, in a city these days, forget it. This applies to almost every country on the planet.

 

[Robert]

I dont think I have ever seen a dominican get a ticket...

They wrote 97,000 in a space of a few months this year.

When you live here and drive everyday, you see AMET giving out plenty of tickets.

 

[laurapasinifan]

you know wishing and reality are two different entities.

I do see change going on in the DR.. the mere fact of all the new police cars, the new road repairs, new crack down on enforcement of older driving laws...ei drinking , running red lights, ect.

I wondfer if the population at large can absorb this financially. Because the goverment finally spent some money where it was needed, doesnt mean the average citizens have any more money.

those pictures and the descriptions i gave myself of vehicles falling apart are part of a poor society. those people drive those cars and trucks like that because they cant really afford anything else....or they would always choose to use their money in other ways.

a guy delivering bags of rice....trying to make money will go broke if he has to dump 40-50,000 pesos into maintaining his truck over the course of a year.

All these crazy pictures show dominicans TRYING to get by....

no way most of the drivers of those vehicles can afford new up to date, or even safe replacements.

a clash is inevitable it seems to me...

bob

 

[miguel]

Todos.....

EVERYBODY is a target.

A LOT of times, they don't even know who they are stopping. Unless they have "radar vision" and can see a "gringo" from a mile away.

What's happening NOw is NOTHING compared to what was happening in the 70's, 80's and 90's, when even going to the beach was an adventure in itself.

It's NOTHING new to hear a Dominican say how many times they were stopped on their way to ANYWHERE, then and now.