During my latest visit to the Republic I decided to rent a car, despite all the warnings about driving in this country. I first spent a few days in Santo Domingo before picking up a Nissan Tiida from Avis near the Hilton Hotel on the Malecon. The first drive out of the city was without incident, but I found direction signs to be confusing or non-existent in many places. The 'speedbumps' which amount to rough ridges of gravel and tar across the road in far too many places, often not clearly marked, are without doubt designed to wreck the suspension or exhaust pipe of what any European would consider to be a roadworthy car, and caused a lot of discomfort to my passengers.
Back in Santo Domingo some gua gua driver decided to move out onto the road without signalling, while I was unable to dodge him with traffic passing on my left. The result of this close encounter was a large scratch along the whole righthand side of the car, which was not appreciated by Avis when I returned the car a week later.
Lane discipline is unknown - trucks and vehicles of all kinds either stuck to one lane no matter what speed they were doing, or overtook to the right or left if anything got in their way. To be overtaken on both sides or to be required to overtake on the wrong side because of some lumbering overloaded tomato truck is disconcerting for a while but one can adjust fairly quickly. It is not hard to get used to motorbikes and scooters driving against traffic in both town and country, or weaving through the traffic, sometimes carrying up to four passengers, you just have to keep your eyes open at all times and constantly expect the unexpected.
A bunch of soldiers I picked up while heading west instructed me on how to get over the speed bumps - you twist the steering wheel while going over and the chassis no longer bangs off the ridge. They of course told me that the road to their destination was fine, but I hope that I will never again have to drive on that badly surfaced rutted road to Jimani.
I left the car in the Hotel Jimani while I went to the border on a moto, and to Port au Prince in a beat up minibus - but that is another story. My first contact with the police was while I was heading for Neiba from Jimani. They were friendly and courteous but warned me not to pick up any passengers.
The drive around Lago Enruiqillo was uneventful but I had to stop frequently to get photos of the lake and mountains, and the iguanas turned up in one or tow locations. There was no problem with traffic generally for the next few days while I visited Barahona, Enriquillo, Santiago, and Jarabacoa. One policeman stopped me ina a village and seemed to be looking for some reason to give me a ticket, checking all documents, pointing to the August 2010 date on my licence. I pointed to the August 2020 date on the other side and he let me go.
In another town, which I will not name in case the authorities might be reading, I was stopped by an AMET officer who told me I had gone through a red light. I told her I saw no lights but that my glasses were lost or stolen and that I hoped that when I got new ones in Santo Domingo my friends there would help me get new ones. 'Tengo amigas in Santo Domingo' I said. 'Tengo una amiga in AMET tambi?n' said she in her wonderful sensual voice, and she put away her notebook - why do such things happen to me on the way out of town?
Aside from the four soldiers I gave lifts to four women, one somewhere east of Neiba who was going to a pharmacy to get medicince for a sick chiild, another who was heading for Santo Domingo to get documents in the Spanish Embassy, the third was heading north towards Cibao with a very shy little girl, the fourth was a trainee teacher I picked up heading home to her village near Santiago. I must say that each little encounter was pleasant and interesting, and a great way to learn a little bit about life in the country.
Overall driving in the Dominican Republic proved to be enjoyable, except for the incident with the gua gua. The police were friendly and there were no places where I felt in danger except for the capital, where there is no room for manoeuvre in a city where the drivers use no signals other than uselessly blaring the horn, and the motorbike riders are completely reckless.
Because of the scratch to the side, which Avis called an accident, I had to go to the police and report the incident. Again, the police were polite and reasonably efficient, (it only took about an hour to get the 3 sentence report for the insurance!)
I am surprised that the speed bumps have not been mentioned in other reports about driving in the DR, as they certainly made things uncomfortable for me on many occasions - there is a variation of course, a shallow trench across the road which is almost impossible to traverse without banging some part of the vehicle against the surface.
Anyway, I hope that this little report will be of some use to those who are thinking of hiring a car to see this wonderfully beautiful country.
Back in Santo Domingo some gua gua driver decided to move out onto the road without signalling, while I was unable to dodge him with traffic passing on my left. The result of this close encounter was a large scratch along the whole righthand side of the car, which was not appreciated by Avis when I returned the car a week later.
Lane discipline is unknown - trucks and vehicles of all kinds either stuck to one lane no matter what speed they were doing, or overtook to the right or left if anything got in their way. To be overtaken on both sides or to be required to overtake on the wrong side because of some lumbering overloaded tomato truck is disconcerting for a while but one can adjust fairly quickly. It is not hard to get used to motorbikes and scooters driving against traffic in both town and country, or weaving through the traffic, sometimes carrying up to four passengers, you just have to keep your eyes open at all times and constantly expect the unexpected.
A bunch of soldiers I picked up while heading west instructed me on how to get over the speed bumps - you twist the steering wheel while going over and the chassis no longer bangs off the ridge. They of course told me that the road to their destination was fine, but I hope that I will never again have to drive on that badly surfaced rutted road to Jimani.
I left the car in the Hotel Jimani while I went to the border on a moto, and to Port au Prince in a beat up minibus - but that is another story. My first contact with the police was while I was heading for Neiba from Jimani. They were friendly and courteous but warned me not to pick up any passengers.
The drive around Lago Enruiqillo was uneventful but I had to stop frequently to get photos of the lake and mountains, and the iguanas turned up in one or tow locations. There was no problem with traffic generally for the next few days while I visited Barahona, Enriquillo, Santiago, and Jarabacoa. One policeman stopped me ina a village and seemed to be looking for some reason to give me a ticket, checking all documents, pointing to the August 2010 date on my licence. I pointed to the August 2020 date on the other side and he let me go.
In another town, which I will not name in case the authorities might be reading, I was stopped by an AMET officer who told me I had gone through a red light. I told her I saw no lights but that my glasses were lost or stolen and that I hoped that when I got new ones in Santo Domingo my friends there would help me get new ones. 'Tengo amigas in Santo Domingo' I said. 'Tengo una amiga in AMET tambi?n' said she in her wonderful sensual voice, and she put away her notebook - why do such things happen to me on the way out of town?
Aside from the four soldiers I gave lifts to four women, one somewhere east of Neiba who was going to a pharmacy to get medicince for a sick chiild, another who was heading for Santo Domingo to get documents in the Spanish Embassy, the third was heading north towards Cibao with a very shy little girl, the fourth was a trainee teacher I picked up heading home to her village near Santiago. I must say that each little encounter was pleasant and interesting, and a great way to learn a little bit about life in the country.
Overall driving in the Dominican Republic proved to be enjoyable, except for the incident with the gua gua. The police were friendly and there were no places where I felt in danger except for the capital, where there is no room for manoeuvre in a city where the drivers use no signals other than uselessly blaring the horn, and the motorbike riders are completely reckless.
Because of the scratch to the side, which Avis called an accident, I had to go to the police and report the incident. Again, the police were polite and reasonably efficient, (it only took about an hour to get the 3 sentence report for the insurance!)
I am surprised that the speed bumps have not been mentioned in other reports about driving in the DR, as they certainly made things uncomfortable for me on many occasions - there is a variation of course, a shallow trench across the road which is almost impossible to traverse without banging some part of the vehicle against the surface.
Anyway, I hope that this little report will be of some use to those who are thinking of hiring a car to see this wonderfully beautiful country.
