Do yourself and 'your best friends son a favor'.... don't do it.
- Thread starter korejdk_again
- Start date
Back in Sosua serious question please
Sooooo dangerous, and this from someone who love to drive here. Think long and hard about it. My father-in-law had to collect his 17-year-old nephew's brain from the asphalt after he was involved in a hit-and-run here on his moto on the North Coast.
I rode a passola on the north coast and the road destroyed it...didnt last 3 months due to pot holes etc
He will not need safety course after his 1st survival of near death experience and he will have found god! Besides this is Sosua mostly drunkards establish a meting with god..common sense is the issue that can’t be taught
Last time we passed Sosua was a couple of weeks ago returning from a short kind of vacation (just a few days) and we passed the city a bit before noon on a weekday. It was even worse than in POP... Way too many motos, no wonder accidents happen... It was an utter and complete madhouse....
Yes, my solid advised would be what was said above: Nothing with two wheels but rather education so something perhaps more boring but also more useful and less risky for life... Our eldest is now 8 yo and he has it already very clear that unless it's outside of this country, for recreational purposes and very properly protected, he will never ride anything motorized with only two wheels. With four wheels, it's another story....
The majority of moto accidents in the DR, involve commercial geared riders.
They are the ones in a hurry and speeding 90% of the time.
A big chunk of school aged kids ride scooters each day of the week. Most parents limit their rides to and from school and very limited trips to the store and such. They mostly monitor and control the ⛽️ gasoline intake to do that.
Delivery/service riders are the bulk of accident victims.
Speed kills. Don’t buy them fast scooters! The slower and weakest, the best.
A 50cc scooter is more than perfect for young ones. Don’t fret over brand, all will get fixed easily anywhere. Just make sure to buy a real DOT graded helmet and a wheel lock.
And if you can, get a scooter with a front basket, as these are the best place to put loads on it for traction.
When they have a slow poke scooter, they will never try to cut into oncoming traffic. They learn quick to wait for the enough distance to merge safely.
Fast riders/motos, will always cut into oncoming traffic, because they rely on their sense of speed from their motos. They end up smashed.
Buy the cheapest offer you can get.
They are the ones in a hurry and speeding 90% of the time.
A big chunk of school aged kids ride scooters each day of the week. Most parents limit their rides to and from school and very limited trips to the store and such. They mostly monitor and control the ⛽️ gasoline intake to do that.
Delivery/service riders are the bulk of accident victims.
Speed kills. Don’t buy them fast scooters! The slower and weakest, the best.
A 50cc scooter is more than perfect for young ones. Don’t fret over brand, all will get fixed easily anywhere. Just make sure to buy a real DOT graded helmet and a wheel lock.
And if you can, get a scooter with a front basket, as these are the best place to put loads on it for traction.
When they have a slow poke scooter, they will never try to cut into oncoming traffic. They learn quick to wait for the enough distance to merge safely.
Fast riders/motos, will always cut into oncoming traffic, because they rely on their sense of speed from their motos. They end up smashed.
Buy the cheapest offer you can get.
Quality and Chinese made should seldom be used in the same sentence.
Get him a Yamaha Crypton 110.
It's got large tires for better pothole survival and they last a long time. Doubt it goes for $1200 however.
The cheapie- cheapie route is never really cheap for long.
It would be good if you defined "commercial riders", because I would agree that many of those involved in accidents are motoconchos, mostly because they pay little to no regards to the traffic laws/rules. But I would rather say that the VAST majority of those involved in accidents are younger people, teenagers or younger adults. Just 2 days ago there was an accident in La Union with a young man on a moto that died. Although in that accident, based on the few details that has been told, it seems that the car that got hit was the responsible one. And that kid wasn't one of those delivery guys.
Also one of my wife's cousins have been in at least half a dozen accidents, and he isn't a delivery guy, he's just plane stupid. I can watch him ride around sometimes when I'm driving, and he just throws himself onto ongoing traffic without even taking any regards that he might get into an accident.
And when I first saw this topic and read the OP, I was also like many others have said, DON'T DO IT. Although you/your kid might be responsible, it doesn't mean that other's are. And the vast majority of accidents here are with motos and not moto-car but moto-moto. I've seen to many horrible accidents involved with motos that I've already told my 12-year-old kid, that while he is living under my roof and until he has created his own life, I'm not going to allow him to ride around on a moto, as I want him alive.
So I'm happy that I wasn't the first one responding to this and that I'm not the only one thinking this way. I don't even think that I have ridden with a moto for the past like 5 years or so. And based on how the accident rate actually has increased the last few years I would rather walk. Atleast that is the situation here in Sosúa/Puerto Plata.
Buy the kid driving lessons before buying him a moto and be prepared to take back the keys when you catch him running red lights and screaming past stopped traffic on the right hand side.
This is the main problem here... My wife has a while ago acquired her license (for car), and she's an excellent driver (75 % taught be me, the other 25 % was the driving school)... Due to me having close to 20 years of experience driving in a few countries, we've agreed that she can drive within the city but when we leave the city, it will be me driving. Not because she could not handle it, but rather that people on the highways can be so utterly stupid (after each trip we do, I'm just more disappointed in how people drive here...) that I'd rather use my experience and reaction times in higher speeds... The best security (as my wife puts it) here is to have decent amount of iron/steel around you (meaning, the bigger vehicle, the better) so that in the worst case scenario, should you be involved in an accident, it would be iron/steel/plastic/glass that is damaged, and not skin/inner organs/bones/whatever else... The first one you fix with money, the second one too until certain limit... Better not to pass that limit...
It does not matter one bit if you are an excellent driver if you're 1 out of 100 who can actually driver properly...
The DR is not the place to be a beginner on a scooter or motorcycle. It's dangerous enough even for experienced drivers.
Take the money you were going to spend on a pasola and pay for some technical courses for him, maybe a carrito to start a food business, what's he going to do with a pasola? Ride around and get into trouble, and 17 especially NO.
Mom of teens here.....
Many gringos teens with pasolas/small motorcycles here in LT riding with helmets. At that age, they do not wish to be driven around by their parents.
They go to friend's houses and the beach (and even school). That s what teens do and there is not much else to do here unfortunately. I don't see them calibrando on pimped out motorcycles, that s what locals do.
I prefer small motorcycles as honda cub rather than pasolas. Gotta be firm about riding safely and wearing their helmets.
Now, if it was in SD or big towns, that s a different story.
A carrito to start a food business, LMAO There are 1000 of them already.
Many gringos teens with pasolas/small motorcycles here in LT riding with helmets. At that age, they do not wish to be driven around by their parents.
They go to friend's houses and the beach (and even school). That s what teens do and there is not much else to do here unfortunately. I don't see them calibrando on pimped out motorcycles, that s what locals do.
I prefer small motorcycles as honda cub rather than pasolas. Gotta be firm about riding safely and wearing their helmets.
Now, if it was in SD or big towns, that s a different story.
A carrito to start a food business, LMAO
There are 1000 of them already.Well I still prefer that my kid is bored, annoyed, embarrassed or whatever they might feel because they can't have a Pasola/moto, and that I know that he is safe, than having the fear of not knowing if I'll see him again. And SD or Santiago or any other big city or Sosúa, it doesn't really matter in Sosúa it's just not safe enough, as I wrote earlier, although you/your kid might drive safe and responsible it doesn't mean that someone else does. For an accident to happen it almost always requieres two.Mom of teens here.....
Many gringos teens with pasolas/small motorcycles here in LT riding with helmets. At that age, they do not wish to be driven around by their parents.
They go to friend's houses and the beach (and even school). That s what teens do and there is not much else to do here unfortunately. I don't see them calibrando on pimped out motorcycles, that s what locals do.
I prefer small motorcycles as honda cub rather than pasolas. Gotta be firm about riding safely and wearing their helmets.
Now, if it was in SD or big towns, that s a different story.
A carrito to start a food business, LMAO
But of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and their own risk taking, but personally I don't want to have to worry about my kid.
My kids don't drive yet, but many of their friends do, especially the slightly older ones (15+). Why ? Because after school, they meet at the beach and/or go to friend's houses as I said. Parents work, so it's that or a concho (or riding on the back of their friends moto). I am sure many of these parents had that dilema before, but they also had to be practical.
Parents worry about their kids regardless.
During my school years, including all the classmates and other classrooms enrolled students, never there was a single fatality due to riding scooters. The only fatalities were due to large racing motos and off roads type (like DT and dirt bikes) owned by some students.
Accidents? Sure! Plenty! Scrapes and dings.
Like I said, from actual experience in the DR, the slower and weaker the scooter, the better.
The best brand ever to reach our shores, was the Japanese Passola. It fit the students mobility needs like a glove. Then there was the LEM and a funny one that was fitted with pedals.
After a time, they started to import a model called Beluga, which had a more powerful engine and was twice as large and three times heavier.
That was a full sized moto dressed as a scooter.
Those were prone to find their drivers in more accidents and deaths. Too fast, too heavy.
And we are were very restricted on using them after school.
The deadlier spot in Santiago for university scooter riders, used to be the entrance/exit of PUCMM on carretera Duarte. Back in the days when the present layout wasn’t there. Same for UTESA back in those days.
Accidents? Sure! Plenty! Scrapes and dings.
Like I said, from actual experience in the DR, the slower and weaker the scooter, the better.
The best brand ever to reach our shores, was the Japanese Passola. It fit the students mobility needs like a glove. Then there was the LEM and a funny one that was fitted with pedals.
After a time, they started to import a model called Beluga, which had a more powerful engine and was twice as large and three times heavier.
That was a full sized moto dressed as a scooter.
Those were prone to find their drivers in more accidents and deaths. Too fast, too heavy.
And we are were very restricted on using them after school.
The deadlier spot in Santiago for university scooter riders, used to be the entrance/exit of PUCMM on carretera Duarte. Back in the days when the present layout wasn’t there. Same for UTESA back in those days.
