What happened in Sosua?

[Eddy]

so, did YOU drive at all while you were there?

i've driven several times in puerta plata, sosua, and cabarete.

i've driven a van, an suv, a sedan, and a scooter... all without incident. you just have to reverse your driving manners (if you're from america) and drive offensively instead of defensively.

i've riden a scooter from cofresi to samana, just for an afternoon cruise. i rode the scooter from puerta plata to sosua.. in the dark, while it was raining. wait... wait... and without a helmet or leather jacket, or even jeans or closed shoes for that matter.

the key is paying attention to your surroundings.

but i also ride a scooter and a motorcycle at home as well, and without helmet...

i agree the roads CAN be dangerous.... and the other drivers can be dangerous.... but the risks are GREATLY lowered when at least one party is paying attention.

I?ve been driving here for the past 25+ years. Everything from a pasola, a big bike to a truck. The only thing to bare in mind is that they drive like idiots. Very few if any would even qualify for a beginners permit in the real world. Always say to yourself ?What?s that idiot going to do?? and believe me he will do it.

If the cops were (real cops) and not just a $$$ making machine, in time they could educate these morons. Last year, I spent some time in Lawrence and was surprised at the civility the drivers had. Stopping to let cars pass, letting pedestrians cross etc. I couldn?t believe my eyes. It was even better than driving in Montreal. OK a bad comparison. LOL.

My speculation on the accident would have to be the guy on the big bike was driving possibly a little faster than he should have but those kids on the smaller bike are 100% at fault. Probably didn?t have any lights, 3 on a bike that should not have been on the road in the first place and as most kids have no idea of the danger. The parents and the police are the guilty ones.

 

[Naptime]

nah i didnt drive and in all my future visits i dont plan on driving, but from what i witnessed i dont think ill ever drive. And are you kidding when you say drive aggressively? FOR WHAT? Where are you in a hurry to? Did you see the accidents on Kabarete.net?

The double yellow line is there for a reason, and, just like in america, sometimes it doesnt matter how good YOUR driving is, its that you have to be aware of OTHER drivers.

BTW, do people drive drunk in DR? I havent been there enough to speculate.

i did not say anything about dricing aggressively. and i didnt say anything about being in a hurry. nor did i say i have ever crossed into the other lane?

but thank yo ufor reiterating my point that you have to watch out for everyone else and be aware of your surroundings.

i always assume that EVERY other driver is out there with the sole intention of smashing into me. and i drive accordingly.


and of course there are people that drive drunk... just like in any other country.

 

[Naptime]

I?ve been driving here for the past 25+ years. Everything from a pasola, a big bike to a truck. The only thing to bare in mind is that they drive like idiots. Very few if any would even qualify for a beginners permit in the real world. Always say to yourself ?What?s that idiot going to do?? and believe me he will do it.

If the cops were (real cops) and not just a $$$ making machine, in time they could educate these morons. Last year, I spent some time in Lawrence and was surprised at the civility the drivers had. Stopping to let cars pass, letting pedestrians cross etc. I couldn?t believe my eyes. It was even better than driving in Montreal. OK a bad comparison. LOL.

My speculation on the accident would have to be the guy on the big bike was driving possibly a little faster than he should have but those kids on the smaller bike are 100% at fault. Probably didn?t have any lights, 3 on a bike that should not have been on the road in the first place and as most kids have no idea of the danger. The parents and the police are the guilty ones.

i'm glad you tossed that LOL in there..... because i was gonna chime in that would rather drive in many places in the DR, than in Montreal !! Hell id rather drive in vegas than in montreal !

most places i travel to, i rent a car or scooter, and move myself about.. montreal.... as soon as i arrive, my car gets parked in the lot, and i take a taxi for the duration of the trip !! lol

 

[ohmmmm]

The accident happened just down the street from me. It happened about 8:30 pm and it was two motorcycles that collided. One of the motorcycles had a gringo and his Hatian girlfriend on it and, reportedly, it was traveling very fast and was one of those large 600cc plus bikes. The Gringo ran into a small motoconcho type bike with a 15 year old girl and two boys about 16 and 17 years old. Everyone died in the accident. The girl is the grand daughter of the person that owns a small restaurant across the street from me and there is a rumor she may have been pregnant. I don't know. There is also a rumor that the gringo's lights were not on, but I doubt that. In any case, it's dangerous to drive at night around here and for sure, don't ride a motorcycle at night. No if ands or buts... It's too dangerous to ride a motorcycle at night!!!!

 

[Islander777]

I drove by the accident scene shortly after it happened just to the west of the La Cienega entrance, a very dangerous intersection. I saw parts of motorcycles all over the road spread across at least 100 meters. I saw two bleeding writhing bodies on the south side of the road and there were others on the other side. The motoconcho drivers from the La Cienega entrance were directing traffic and checking on the victims. I heard one say repeatedly, "Que idiota, que idiota!" I heard another say, "He's alive (El vive)" Another witness reported to me that they saw a motorcycle helmet completely ripped apart on the road. I heard that the foreigner on the large motorcycle had only just purchased it a week or two earlier. I would suggest it may have been another case of too much motorcycle operated by a driver with too little judgment and/or experience. This accident and the one near Sabaneta cast a pall over Cabarete during the long weekend, especially since one of the young women killed in Sabaneta worked the beach tables at Bambu. She was 20 with long blond hair.

I disagree with the poster above who suggests that driving aggressively is the best way to survive in the DR. An old friend of mine who had only one functioning eye always drove VERY slowly. He told me he was the only one amongst his long-time resident group of Ex-Pats who had never been in an accident in the DR. He would say, you can always tell which car I am driving by the line of 20 cars behind me. He didn't care if they became impatient, and he died of natural causes at a ripe old age after 30 years living in the DR.

 

[cobraboy]

And no one was wearing helmets I am willing to bet. How very very sad!

I'm seeing more helmets, just not strapped on. That negates wearing one.

Aggressive driving in the Dr does not equate to safe driving. The key is understanding the unwritten Rules of the Raod, and following within them. You're a foriegn body in a highly evolved system and it is YOU that must adapt.

Driving "legal" here can also get you "dead."

To the guy who drives slow: YOU may be safe, but you endanger all around you trying to pass. One should drive at the same general speed as the traffic.

 

[dv8]

the key is paying attention to your surroundings.

dude, this is such a BS. one thing is to pay attention and god knows i do it when i drive. another thing is to have an idiot who is drunk or drives too fast hit you head on. you can pay all the attention you want and you will never be able to avoid it. not to mention that without a helmet you do not even have to get hit fast or hard, heck, you can be standing and get just slightly pushed and with a bad luck you will crack your head open like an egg.

 

[Jetblue Flight 811]

exactly my point, and lets not forget the variables....i.e the angus black cows that cross the road pitch black at night....WOW

 

[Naptime]

dude, this is such a BS. one thing is to pay attention and god knows i do it when i drive. another thing is to have an idiot who is drunk or drives too fast hit you head on. you can pay all the attention you want and you will never be able to avoid it. not to mention that without a helmet you do not even have to get hit fast or hard, heck, you can be standing and get just slightly pushed and with a bad luck you will crack your head open like an egg.

why do so many of you read one thing and forget everything else that a poster said... i did NOT say that paying attention guarantees that you'll never have an accident. you say it's BS, yet you say that you yourself pay attention when you are driving.... then you say you will never be able to avoid it...

and i said....

i agree the roads CAN be dangerous.... and the other drivers can be dangerous.... but the risks are GREATLY lowered when at least one party is paying attention.


now, did i say you would NEVER have a problem... no, i said your risks are greatly LOWERED. i did notsay they would be eliminated...

 

[Naptime]

exactly my point, and lets not forget the variables....i.e the angus black cows that cross the road pitch black at night....WOW

so... you want a utopia....


ever seen a car accident in the US? cow OR DEER crossing the road and cause an accident.... in the US.... Drunk drivers.... in the US. Motorcycle accident in the US?

 

[Naptime]

I disagree with the poster above who suggests that driving aggressively is the best way to survive in the DR.

again, i said nothing about driving aggressivly. i said driving offensively, and being aware of your surroundings.

 

[cobraboy]

Unless someone has a gushing artery and needed life-or-death care, I would never ride a motorcycle here at night.

Heck, driving a mammoth SUV with nukuler retina-searing high-beams is folly enough...

This is especially true from sunset to around 9pm. That seems to be when most drunks are on the road. Amateur hour.

Juggling flaming chainsaws while blindfolded is only marginally safer than driving a moto, at night, while drinking.

 

[woofsback]

common sense

don't drive motor cycles
don't go on the highway at night
stay in yur homes
close the curtains....

c'mon folks
even if one didn't have thier lights on...if the other had had thier lights on and going an appropriate speed an accident could have been avoided

i wasn't there...but i have seen drivers with no lights on
i have also seen dominicans and gringos who think they can jam the peddle and everything is going to work perfect for them...
don't know who was right or wrong...but from what i've read so far it was 2 different people doing 2 wrongs at the same time in the same place and it was disasterous....who's to blame?

i blame the police and the politicians
the police don't enforce enuf safe rules
and the politicians don't force the police to do thier job better
hand enuf tickets out and take some bikes away....and most of these situations will disappear..not all...but most

i walk the highway almost every night....
always facing traffic....
never drunk...
and in the grass BESIDE the highway...
cut down the opportunities from the beginning

 

[ctrob]

c'mon folks
even if one didn't have thier lights on...if the other had had thier lights on and going an appropriate speed an accident could have been avoided

I have to disagree...

I was on a US highway once, in a car, in the slow lane going about 60 mph in broad daylight, and I saw brake lights up ahead. Next thing I know a car coming the wrong way in the fast lane flew by. You have absolutely no time to react. It's over before you know it.

They caught the car getting off an exit, it was a confused little old lady.

Two bikes at night coming at each other, maybe one without lights is a disaster. And even if one does see the other, who's to say they'll turn away from each other?

 

[dv8]

why do so many of you read one thing and forget everything else that a poster said... i did NOT say that paying attention guarantees that you'll never have an accident. you say it's BS, yet you say that you yourself pay attention when you are driving.... then you say you will never be able to avoid it...

you said "the key is" and it is not
the key is to assume everyone else driving here is a total idiot who will do stupid things. it helps greatly because then one drives carefully enough for themselves and other users of the road who happen to be quarterwits (at best). never think that other drivers are reasonable because they are not.
i always look at other drivers suspiciously and i am so concentrated on driving i do not do much else (never talk on the phone, eat/drink anything or even touch the radio). still it annoys me no end to think that i may be killed in an accident caused by someone else...

 

[Kyle]

i once took a moto over to charimicos at night with a chica on board. of course i was drunk. by the time we got there i was sober. just that short ride.

 

[ohmmmm]

At night in Cabarete withing ten minutes you will see a motorcycle without lights or lights so dim it doesn't matter riding down the street. It is so common it is normal here. I definately look both ways twice or more before walking across the street. Then there are the cars and SUV's going about 60 mph speeding just after they leave downtown or before the get there. Then there are the people in the mix going about 20 mph and then there are the people walking along the road or riding motor bikes dressed in all black and without a rear reflector and then there are the cows and sometimes horses/donkeys walking along the road and finally there are cars and trucks with ultra bright lights that blind anyone withing 100 yards of them and it takes a second or two after you pass them to really see anything again... I'm not saying that anyone should not drive a large vehicle at night, but definitely stay away from motorcycles at night and only drive other vehicles at night occasionally because it is dangerous.

 

[2dlight]

While one can take all known and yet-to-be-known precautions to be safe, when your time is up, it's up. A couple of days ago a guy steals a Ford F150 from a driveway, the owner sees him and gives chase while calling the police. The police give chase and the F150 enters the freeway at a high rate of speed going in the wrong direction. The police suspend the chase and the F150 strikes a guy head-on killing him instantly. He was riding his Harley.

 

[ctrob]

i once took a moto over to charimicos at night with a chica on board. of course i was drunk. by the time we got there i was sober. just that short ride.

I thought the punch line was going to be that you got there and the chica was missing....

 

[NYC_Trini_Span]

I used to drive my little pasola from Sosua to Blue Fish and Cabarete in the early AM's! crazy I know but i would ride that grass like a sissy boy fearing my life would get cut short LOL

Always scary crossing into Blue Fish from the far lane!

Now i wouldn't do that