Give them a ticket, Problem solved!

Wanna

Member
Feb 1, 2006
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I see that selfishness is a main cause for the huge traffic problem here in Santo Domingo. Vehicles do not care if they impede traffic in the adjacent direction as long as they can cross themselves. In Virginia USA, there is a large box drawn on the pavement in major intersections. If any part of your car is in that box when there is a red light in your direction, you are issued a large summon ( this is done using a camera focused on the intersection and your license plate). Does AMET have a suggestion box? AMET could substitute the cameras with their officers, I am sure this would work. At first there would be a problem ( hard heads who will not believe they will be issued a summons), but in a month or so I am sure there would be a vast difference for the better.
 
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DavidZ

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Aug 29, 2005
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They did this in NYC about 20-30 years ago and created a marketing campaign called "Don't Block the Box"....it definitely changed people's driving habits at intersections. I actually think this is an excellent idea, but doubt it will ever be implemented here, it's just too simple and logical...
 
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amparocorp

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Aug 11, 2002
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selfishness, the perfect description of what is wrong with the DR. all the fault of dominican mothers and fathers who insist on calling their little rats "princessa" and "principe". trouble is that by the time they get to drive a car they really think they are next in line to the throne.
it's all the fault of history. when the spanish kings gave away chunks of the new world they made the new owner "king" of that particular piece of territory, with all the rights and responsibilities of being a king. so you can promote whom you please and behead anyone opposed to your crown. as a piece of land is transferred, split up, with it go all the rights and responsibilities of a king, and further divided until it's a small apartment that comes with it, all the rights and responsibilities of a king.
in the US we revolted against that, made a constitution and bill of rights, that way of thinking is only 240 years old. kings and queens go back for thousands of years. this thinking will not change overnight, at least not in our lifetimes.
so you have this attitude on the highway where everyone thinks that they are king of the road in their corolla. some call it "machismo", i call it stupidity.............it's not their fault, it's the fault of queen isabella trying to find a man.
i tell my wife often, "do not call our son principe".................he'll grow up believing it and be a bad driver.............
 
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Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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It is city driving and by many European countries standards not that bad. Selfishness gets you from A to B in a city, dithering means you run late and your life takes longer, not good when often in a city peoples time is money.
Installing the intelligence onto the streets here would be massively costly and apart from once done, do you think the registration records are going to be up tio date if at all existant on the majority of vehicles on the road. Cars run without front plates and often unreadable plates so the entire process would mean upgrading what is already in place, reinforcing road laws that ned to be upheld to make that function work at all. Never going to happen in my lifetime. And at the end of the day, cities are always terrible to get around by car during rush hour, they'd be better off using the money getting the underground extended and more frequent.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
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The strangest part of my visit back to the States was being shocked when the cars would stop to let me pass.... but I do remember that there was a NYC campaign to Give the Pedestrians the Right of Way.

I do feel that there is a sort of "carismo" here which is based on "Hey, I have the money to have a car and it is bigger than yours and you poor slobs on foot are just fodder".... I think it because they do not have bullfighting or war.
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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They did this in NYC about 20-30 years ago and created a marketing campaign called "Don't Block the Box"....it definitely changed people's driving habits at intersections. I actually think this is an excellent idea, but doubt it will ever be implemented here, it's just too simple and logical...

I think that may solve a lot of the problems in the DR and also would be a cash cow for AMET.
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
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An then there is this

Really ought to be in the clown bin, except I think he was serious

Suggestions to reduce traffic chaos
Writing in today's Diario Libre, architect Emilio Jose Brea lists three solutions that would significantly reduce traffic congestion in Santo Domingo. One is that the private and public sectors should provide collective transport for employees and schoolchildren. Another is that stores should open on weekends and into the evening "when people are off work." He also urged the Police to change their "office hours" to those that enable it to be patrolling in the evening and on weekends.

Enforce parking laws, No parking on major thru-o-fares, no double parking, no parking on both sides of the street, NO PARKING JUST WHERE EVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO. I still say there is not a street in the city that can carry the amount of traffic that its designed to carry due to parking. I also like the box idea.

An I thought that AMET was supposed to stop directing traffic! The lights do a better job.
 

genistar

Active member
Jul 29, 2009
204
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Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Yeah... whenever I see AMET "directing traffic" they're usually creating more gridlock (and often causing accidents due to unclear signaling) than if they'd just let the lights to their job.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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..... If any part of your car is in that box when there is a red light in your direction, you are issued a large summon ( this is done using a camera focused on the intersection and your license plate). Does AMET have a suggestion box? AMET could substitute the cameras with their officers, I am sure this would work. At first there would be a problem ( hard heads who will not believe they will be issued a summons), but in a month or so I am sure there would be a vast difference for the better.
Yeah, right!

A few years ago I got a ticket for tinted windows and they kept my license.

After paying the 30 peso fine I went to AMET in Santiago to get my license back.

The file cabinets were filled with driver?s licenses,
......... which were many, many, many thousands of licenses.

;) Looked like more licenses then cars I see on the streets of Santiago each day! ;)

t9d26v.gif

SantiagoDR
 
May 12, 2005
8,564
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Yeah, right!

A few years ago I got a ticket for tinted windows and they kept my license.

After paying the 30 peso fine I went to AMET in Santiago to get my license back.

The file cabinets were filled with driver?s licenses,
......... which were many, many, many thousands of licenses.

;) Looked like more licenses then cars I see on the streets of Santiago each day! ;)

t9d26v.gif

SantiagoDR

How were you ever able to find yours in all that mess?
 
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Wanna

Member
Feb 1, 2006
269
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an then there is this

Really ought to be in the clown bin, except I think he was serious

Suggestions to reduce traffic chaos
Writing in today's Diario Libre, architect Emilio Jose Brea lists three solutions that would significantly reduce traffic congestion in Santo Domingo. One is that the private and public sectors should provide collective transport for employees and schoolchildren. Another is that stores should open on weekends and into the evening "when people are off work." He also urged the Police to change their "office hours" to those that enable it to be patrolling in the evening and on weekends.

Enforce parking laws, No parking on major thru-o-fares, no double parking, no parking on both sides of the street, NO PARKING JUST WHERE EVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO. I still say there is not a street in the city that can carry the amount of traffic that its designed to carry due to parking. I also like the box idea.

An I thought that AMET was supposed to stop directing traffic! The lights do a better job.


I wonder if he put an effort in thinking this out ( I think he should have sounded this idea off a few close friends before making this a public statement).
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
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How were you ever able to find yours in all that mess?
They seemed to have them by date........

But even then it took a while, they went through several containers to find mine, as there were so many since when I got my ticket.

By date, I think it may have been by MONTH and YEAR. Who really knows?

t9d26v.gif

SantiagoDR
 

ExtremeR

Silver
Mar 22, 2006
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Once when they were taking licences away they catch me without the seat belt and suddenly I was licence-less. I just went to the AMET building and payed RD$200.00 to a guy down there to look for my license. In about 15 minutes he came down with the license, got paid and I left muerto de la risa jajaja. Que paisito el mio!
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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Once when they were taking licences away they catch me without the seat belt and suddenly I was licence-less. I just went to the AMET building and payed RD$200.00 to a guy down there to look for my license. In about 15 minutes he came down with the license, got paid and I left muerto de la risa jajaja. Que paisito el mio!

...and that's how I like it. Sorry, but I don't want to see The DR become like The US where you drive scared, constantly looking over your shoulder wondering if you broke the smallest rule and they may give you a ticket. I agree SOME things should be enforced (such as driving drunk...an I mean drunk not after having one beer like here in The US), but giving people tickets for every little thing I hope never happens. Seat belts for instance to me is a personal choice (I wear them all the time, but that's MY choice) and a person should not be given a ticket for not wearing one.
 

Anastacio

Banned
Feb 22, 2010
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Seat belts for instance to me is a personal choice (I wear them all the time, but that's MY choice) and a person should not be given a ticket for not wearing one.

I disagree, it is the emergency services that have to come and mop your brains up, the police tell your family you are now pizza topping and loads more paperwork in investigation once you are dead as opposed to calling your family and tellling them you are in hopital with a broken leg. Wearing your seatbelt reduces that probability by alot.
You are also less likely to lose control of the wheel when wearing your seatbelt and therefore less likely to run down a pedestrian or smash into another car. It's a bit of a no brainer for experienced drivers.
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
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Santiago DR
... Seat belts for instance to me is a personal choice (I wear them all the time, but that's MY choice) and a person should not be given a ticket for not wearing one.

Apparently you haven't seen someone thrown over 100 feet and ended up with their head rolling down the highway, I have, and if this guy was wearing his seatbelt, he would be alive today.....for his family. THEY SAVE LIVES...