We're number one!!!!!!!!!!

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cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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On the "World's Most Dangerous Roads" List

In fairness one caveate:

The Caribbean island nation (it shares the island of Hispanolia with Haiti) reports a staggering 41.7 driving deaths per 100,000 people per year. That means that, in any given year, a Dominican person has a one in 2,398 chance of being killed by a car. That’s not so bad until you extrapolate out by 70 years and find that, over a lifetime, a Dominican’s odds of dying in a car-related accident are one in 480. The WHO report notes that the Dominican Republic has weak helmet and speed laws and even weaker drunk driving laws. More than half of driving related deaths, 58 percent, are of occupants or drivers of two- or three-wheeled vehicles. In other words, motorcycles.

{snip}

Thailand, like, the Dominican Republic, reports an unusually high number of deaths related to two- or three-wheel vehicles, i.e. motorbikes. But Iran and Oman, also highly ranked, have more even distributions of deaths among drivers and passengers of two- and four-wheel vehicles as well as pedestrian and cyclists.

road-safety-map.jpg
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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strange that pichardo was not the one to post that. he's usually the first to boast about his country being cream of the crop in something...
 

Castle

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strange that pichardo was not the one to post that. he's usually the first to boast about his country being cream of the crop in something...

As he would say, that is because there are far more sports supercars and high-speed highways in DR than in any other country. The only reason why more drunk drivers are registered to be involved in accidents is because Brugal is so good that it is detected in all blood tests, not like those watered down liquors people in other countries drink.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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As he would say, that is because there are far more sports supercars and high-speed highways in DR than in any other country. The only reason why more drunk drivers are registered to be involved in accidents is because Brugal is so good that it is detected in all blood tests, not like those watered down liquors people in other countries drink.

Besides he would rather have a car accident in DR than anywhere else in the world.:smoke:
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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It's is more than likely less than 30 because the WHO's modifier of the real statistic is based on questionable reasoning, I call it the "third world factor".
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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More than half of those deaths are motorcycle related, whose occupants and drivers normally doesn't wear helmets whatsoever, I think those stats when seen as a whole are skewed...
 

frank12

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Sep 6, 2011
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Dominican Traffic Laws

If took considerable searching, and three trips to Santo Domingo, to find and decode the Official Dominican Traffic Laws. The actual tome weighs in at 200 pounds and needs two stout Dominican women simply to open the cover. It resides in a secret vault at the Tomb of the Unknown Moto Concho, guarded by the President of the Republic?s fourth cousin twice removed, Monday – Friday from 8am to 4pm, more or less. While not official posted, unofficial admission rates to the secret vault are 50 pesos if the guard is awake, or 100 pesos if he?s asleep. The two stout Dominican women charge 50 pesos each, and are always asleep.

The Director of Transportation in the Dominican Republic is charged with the unaided task of maintaining the Traffic Laws, which includes the actual writing of the Traffic Laws. No further legislation or oversight appears necessary. The Traffic Laws are a long, continuous blog of sequential entries by the various Directors through the years, the result of which is a fascinating study in Dictatorial Impotence.

The current Director is quite an unusual man. He resides atop a mountain outside Jaraboca, in a small hut with no electricity, no phone, and no family. He spends his days in meditation and yoga, and his nights consuming six Presidente Grandes. He donates almost all of his considerable salary to the Society for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Solipsism, and a trip to the Society?s Annual Convention is his only foray outside his own home.

In the ten years that he has been Director he has made only one addition to the Traffic Code. On his way to the airport in Santo Domingo for his trip to the Annual Convention of the Society for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Solipsism, he went to the Tomb of the Unknown Moto Concho, made his entry, had the two stout Dominican women close the book, had the tomb sealed, his only comment - “It is finished.”

It should be noted, as a cultural aside, that all Dominican Traffic Codes begin with the legal phrase “Everyone knows…”
• That whoever honks first has the right of way.
• That having the right of way is a relative term, and meaningless if you're dead.
• That if you are hit from behind in an accident, it is your fault for driving too slow.
• That when motorcycles enter the street from your right they are allowed to turn left without looking and drive on your right hand side of the street until they can cross to the other side. If you have an accident with a motorcycle in this situation it is your fault.
• That motorcycles do not line up in traffic with cars. If you are sandwiched between two cars it is your fault. How could anyone possibly anticipate you would be there?
• That big trucks don?t slow down for anyone or anything. Why should they?
• That no matter how narrow the street, there are seven lanes of traffic. Three for cars, with one lane always in the middle of the street as a passing lane, also known as the “let?s play chicken lane.” Plus four lanes for motorcycles, two lanes on the outside of each side of the street for motorcycles, one going in each direction, generally the furthest outside lane is against the traffic flow on that side of the street, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
• The usage of the seven lanes of traffic is only suggestive. All the lanes can be used at any time by anyone.
• That you can pass on the left or the right. What?s the difference?
• That headlights and tail lights are optional, even at night. Hitting a motorcycle that has no headlights or tail lights is your fault. Your lights were working, weren't they?
• That pedestrians have only one function – target practice.
• That owners of animals wandering in the street have no responsibility for those animals. Why would they? The animals are the ones wandering in the street.
• That the maximum number of passengers allowed in a car or on a motorcycle depends on whether the tires will go flat or not.
• That rear view mirrors are a waste of money. Who drives backwards?
• That if a taxi breaks down and leaves you in the middle of nowhere, no refund is due. It was probably your fault, anyway.
• That stop lights are for losers. Why would anyone do what a light tells you to do? That?s just stupid.
• That wheelies down the middle of a crowed street at midnight on Saturday night does not constitute reckless driving.
• That the maximum volume of music allowed for a car with open windows is a question too stupid to ask or answer.
• That it is not illegal to drink and drive, nor is it illegal to be drunk and drive. It is only illegal to be drunk and have an accident.
• That sobriety is a relative term, and thus sobriety tests are unreliable. The only reliable indicator of a driver being drunk while driving is if he falls down getting out of the car and can?t get up. But we still have to rule out other (possibly medical) causes that could account for smelling like a brewery and passing out in the street.
• That driving faster is always safer because it lowers your exposure time to potential accidents and eliminates the possibility of being hit from behind.
• That anyone wearing a helmet is probably a tourist.
• That anyone wearing a helmet and using turn signals is absolutely a tourist.
• That the term “at fault” only applies to tourists.
And finally, the most important Dominican Traffic Law, and REMEMBER IT WELL!
Everyone knows that if a tourist is involved in an accident with a Dominican, the Dominican just hit the lottery. The tourist will PAY.

The amount the tourist will pay depends not upon who was at fault in the accident, nor upon the extent of the damages. It depends solely upon how much the tourist values his passport. Because…
Everyone knows that if this goes to court, the trial could be postponed indefinitely, and the outcome is, shall we say, to be kind, unpredictable. In the meantime, the Police are going to have your Passport to ensure you show up at your court dates, at least until you die…
OR UNTIL YOU PAY!

Hope you folks enjoyed your stay here in paradise, and yawl come back to see us real soon.
The final entry by the Director?

Brilliant in its simplicity, breathtaking in its profundity, bringing order, symmetry, and closure out of chaos, elevating The Traffic Laws of the Dominican Republic to a work of art – Everyone knows that everyone knows.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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More than half of those deaths are motorcycle related, whose occupants and drivers normally doesn't wear helmets whatsoever, I think those stats when seen as a whole are skewed...

It is true that that countries with highest rate are often countries with high numbers of motorcycles. If we assume that bike are in fact on the road in DR these stats don't appear to be skewed* since there Road traffic deaths i.e they don't distinguish between miguelito dead behind the wheel of his jeepeta and belkys dead riding her pasola.

*That is without taking into account the famous "third world factor" introduced by our own brilliant Statistician.
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
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Santiago
It is true that that countries with highest rate are often countries with high numbers of motorcycles. If we assume that bike are in fact on the road in DR these stats don't appear to be skewed* since there Road traffic deaths i.e they don't distinguish between miguelito dead behind the wheel of his jeepeta and belkys dead riding her pasola.

*That is without taking into account the famous "third world factor" introduced by our own brilliant Statistician.

It's apparent you didn't read the report. I expect it can be found in French for your convenience.
 

cleverlemming

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Jul 14, 2012
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strange that pichardo was not the one to post that. he's usually the first to boast about his country being cream of the crop in something...

Car accidents do not happen to ordinary Dominicans. Dominicans, because of their extraordinary longevity, simply expire of natural causes while driving and subsequently run into things while already dead. The colonialist statisticians insult us by calling these events "accidents."
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
8,367
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Ah, at last we get our due. What an esteemed honor to finally be awarded the highway grand mortality trophy. Many of us suspected we were number one all along. On another front I would like to nominate Castle to be the official DR1 stand in for Pichardo when he is unable to post due to the many hours he puts in taking pictures of buildings under construction. Castle seems to have a unique insight into the mind of this great man. Good job.
 

expatsooner

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Aug 7, 2004
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It's is more than likely less than 30 because the WHO's modifier of the real statistic is based on questionable reasoning, I call it the "third world factor".

National Data Coordinators (NDCs) were trained in the project methodology. They were required to identify up to eight other road safety experts within their country from different sectors and to facilitate a consensus meeting of these respondents. While each expert responded to the questionnaire in their individual capacity, the consensus meeting facilitated by NDCs allowed for discussion of all responses, and the group used this discussion to agree one final set of information that best represented their country?s situation at the time (up to 2011, using the most recent data available). This was then submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO), see Figure E1.

Data collection began in May 2011 and was completed by December 2011. Validation involved checking data for logical inconsistencies, and these were checked with National Data Coordinators. Following the validation process, final data sets were sent to respective governments for review and sign-off.

Following the computation of estimates of road traffic deaths for 2010, a country consultation process was undertaken. Each country was provided with an opportunity to comment on both the methodology which had been employed to compute the estimate, as well as the actual estimate received. As a result of this process, seven countries (Canada, Chile, China (14), Costa Rica, India (15), Iran and the USA) provided WHO with more up to date data which was used to improve estimates.


These are quotes from pages 42, 49 and 50 of the report - basically a group of Dominican road safety experts got together and compiled and agreed to the stats for the country, then the DR government was allowed to provide more data to improve the estimates if the government desired or to ask questions about the methodology of the study, which it didn't btw.

The methodology and safeguards to ensure accuracy seem quite adequate to me (and to the government of the DR evidently) - to which modifier of the real statistics are you referring to in your comment Chip? I am just curious - not looking to pick a fight. :)
 
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