Idiot Driver (photo)

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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On my way to the office this morning I took a photo of the type of idiot drivers you have to deal with driving here. Camera phones, very handy!

The guy in the gold Blazer was on my inside and coming up slowly on a parked blue car on the kerb, he needed to move into my lane. The traffic ahead of us stopped and he was able to squeeze past me, but didn't have enough room to get all the way over. So he decided that it would be easier just to try and push the red car out of the way and at the same time scraping the right side of the blue car on his inside.

The photo below is of the female driver starting to get out of her car while the idiot in the Blazer is him trying to force his way through a gap that's around 12 inches to small.

She abused the hell out of him and he came back with the usual, "no es mi culpa" BS. I have no idea if the owner of the blue car appeared on the scene as I drive around them, but their car is going to need a new paint job.

The joys of living in the DR!

idiot_driver.jpg
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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No matter how long I live here, it never ceases to amaze me.
Once they have a steering wheel in hand, they drive like they're in the biggest rush in the world, yet they can get to their destination and sit down and do nothing for 5 hours and be quite content.
 

M.A.R.

Silver
Feb 18, 2006
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They drive like they are the only ones on the road, its incredible, no regards for anyone at all, pedestrians, women, children its like they accelerate to try to hit them.:surprised I'm a nervous wreck when I go into Santiago :paranoid:
 

tjmurray

Bronze
Aug 11, 2006
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The most stressful part of living in the DR for me is driving. It's still hard for me to understand why there is so much impatience on the road; more than I ever noticed living in Manhattan. I mean, isn't this a tropical island? Simma down.

One of my favorites is watching Dominican drivers put themselves into oncoming traffic in order to avoid a short wait at a traffic light... stressful situation because of uneducated idiotic drivers.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Aww, Robert, maybe we should put this on automatic pilot and every time a person talks about renting a car, it pops up!!!

So cool.. Great reporting.

HB
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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Aww, Robert, maybe we should put this on automatic pilot and every time a person talks about renting a car, it pops up!!!

So cool.. Great reporting.

HB

Maybe... But I would still advise people to rent a car, it's a fantastic way to see the country. I have yet to hear of anyone regretting renting a car and driving around the DR, despite the crazy driving at times here.
 

alicious

Bronze
Oct 2, 2007
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I wish I had the nerve to drive in SD...

I didnt really like driving on the North Coast...but not near as bad in SD...

I would be afraid to have a heart attack if I drove down there.

Some one should have "Learn How to Drive in the DR" classes! I would sign up!! hehehe ;)

(I don't mean learn how to drive like a moron, but learn how to drive, so that you can get from place to place without having a heart attack) :p lol
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
I had a drunk scrape the side of my yipeta on the way back from Moca. However, driving here doesn't really bother me anymore, not unless I'm in a real hurry, while is quite rare anymore.

Aslo, I don't know if the Domin. drivers are any stupider than anyone else, heck back in Orlando I've seen some pretty stupid stuff, and we had fatal accidents almost every other day during the day. Here that is still uncommon to see during the day.

Once one understands the "rules" driving here is no worse than Europe or the US. If one doesn't understand the rules and how Domins. think, then I could understand it could be stressful.
 
Sep 19, 2005
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AUDACITY is a word that comes to mind when I think about some of the drivers there that feel they are more important than anyone else or anything else that is going on.

The killer is it is sooo prevalent in the country!

and it can take any small traffic issue and blow it into a full blown nightmare.

gridlock to the max....

a simple issue like what robert photoed could have taken maybe 15 20 seconds to over come...but if there are 5 or 6 idiots that have the same idea they will all try to get through that spot the gold car couldnt get through...AT THE SAME time..and thus make the 15 seconds balloon into 5 minutes......

I dont worry about this type of traffic while driving( I rent)....

you can protect yourself financially with insurance coverage...yes it can be costly...but hassle free life usually is.

the dangers of traffic happen at speed with animals and drivers coming the other way(at you), and at night.

to tell you the truth robert I am ammazed the guy actually hit.. these guys all have like a second sense as to where their car ends and the next begin...soo many times i just say..I have no idea how we didnt hit, or how those two cars got through there ect ect.....

Ten cars can jostle through a small intersection breaking a bunch of laws with out a scratch.....
that mentailty is so unique to the DR...
( I havent driven in other foreign countries....so I only know the US canada and the DR!!)

bob
 

Musicqueen

Miami Nice!
Jan 31, 2002
2,252
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Hey, I've driven in SD...and never had a problem!!! Of course my hubby (fiance at the time) was always in the car with me...

Of course, I had the best classes before I got there....I learned here in Miami! ;)

Great stoy, Rob...and awesome pic!!! You make a wonderful reporter!!! Go Clark Kent!!!!
 

BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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I wish I had the nerve to drive in SD...

I didnt really like driving on the North Coast...but not near as bad in SD...

I would be afraid to have a heart attack if I drove down there.

Some one should have "Learn How to Drive in the DR" classes! I would sign up!! hehehe ;)

(I don't mean learn how to drive like a moron, but learn how to drive, so that you can get from place to place without having a heart attack) :p lol
Driving in the DR is not all that difficult ..............
You look for all the things that COULD go wrong & place yourself out of harms way!
You look for all things that (in any other country) would be considered improbable & again place yourself out of harms way!
You plan for the incredulously stupid actions of others .. & place yourself out of harms way!

Then you place a cast iron fender all around you, fix a ship's fog horn on the car/jeep & drive as though everyone (except things BIGGER than you) should get out of YOUR way!!
(Oh, & three bottles of tranquilisers for any passengers you might be carrying helps too!!) ~ Grahame.
 
Jun 18, 2007
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503
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www.rentalmetrocountry.com
The most stressful part of living in the DR for me is driving. It's still hard for me to understand why there is so much impatience on the road; more than I ever noticed living in Manhattan. I mean, isn't this a tropical island? Simma down.

One of my favorites is watching Dominican drivers put themselves into oncoming traffic in order to avoid a short wait at a traffic light... stressful situation because of uneducated idiotic drivers.

Besides living in the DR I've lived also in Panama, Costa Rica, traveled all over Latin America and it's everywhere the same. The reason for this is that people just go to buy their licence therefore not receiving any education.
Whereas we in Europe have to take mandatory driving lessons and we're taught how to behave in traffic however this doesn't mean that every European is a good driver because I've seen a lot strange happening overthere also as well as anywhere else in the world I've been.
 

tjmurray

Bronze
Aug 11, 2006
627
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Once one understands the "rules" driving here is no worse than Europe or the US. If one doesn't understand the rules and how Domins. think, then I could understand it could be stressful.

You are right. I let the stupidity of others stress me out on the roads here. I have improved a great deal but I still have a ways to go. It's that every time I think I'm improving, some idiot has his high beams in my face or another is honking the millisecond the light turns green.

I'm trying though, I'm trying...
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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to tell you the truth robert I am ammazed the guy actually hit.. these guys all have like a second sense as to where their car ends and the next begin...s

He didn't hit her, he tried to squeeze past her by pushing her out of the way.
Then he blamed the car on his inside that was parked.
 

BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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Bob what does two pictures of your G/F underwear have to do with idiot drivers? :laugh:
Silly question Anna ............. aren't 70% of accidents in this country caused by men looking at girls evocatively dressed? :cheeky::ermm:

10% of accidents are caused by miscalculations of speed/distance etc
20% by mishandling the cell phone & cervesa whilst driving!!:ninja:

QED!! ~ Grahame.
 

Budson

New member
Mar 10, 2004
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I am still trying to get a picture of a "Student Driver" car down here. I see them occasionally on the way to work. One view of a student driver's dar and it explains everything. I will have to remember I have a camera phone.
 

tonywillies

New member
Dec 16, 2005
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cabarete road works

After seeing the photo I could not resist posting my addition to the idiot drivers, this tme in Cabarete.
As many of you know, trying to drive through Cabarete is a nightmare at the moment due to all the road works..I guess I should pause at time and question the local authorities as to why the hell did they not do all this work BEFORE they put down our nice new road, but that would just be wasting my time!!
So there I am, sitting in my car in the middle of Cabarete, just in front of Onno`s, expecting a long wait to go to Sosua. The line up behind me probably goes back to Pro Cab and now the traffic are starting to come from the other direction...great I think, only about another 10 minutes to go...well that is what I thought...until I see another car coming up beside me facing the same direction, a taxi driver of course! Then there was the Pied Piper effect, about another 20 cars are following him. The first vehicle to come from the other direction was a gas tanker, and he is suddenly faced with 2 rows of traffic at a standstill...mmm, I think, this is going to be interesting! So the taxi driver tries his best to fit his Toyota Corolla into the gap between me and the car behind me, which was about 2 feet. Now, excuse me if I am wrong, but the last time I saw a Toyota Corolla they were considerably longer than 2 feet, but then I remebered that the driver was Dominican, and so anything is possible, right? Well, he succeeded in bumping me and the car behind me, and still thinking it was possible to squeeze his car between us he actually accelerated, pushing me forward, almost hitting the truck in front of me. By this time the gas truck is right by my side, honking his horn like there is no tomorrow, and there is also an ambulance about 8 cars behind obviously trying to get to an emergency. Well, we sat there for about 30 minutes and nothing happened, with the exception of a large number of Dominicans shouting and screaming at each other, the odd one or two saying hi to a friend or family member..blah blah blah. Then, a miracle happened, a police man arrived...and here I thought they were all at the car wash drinking, but he looked at the traffic and then walked off in the other direction...probably to tell all his other police buddies about the commotion and to sit down and and have a few more shots of Brugal to discuss what they were going to do about it. About 20 minutes later, two cops arrived and finally started doing the obvious, making all the idiots that were trying to overtake, reverse. This took another 20 minutes, and no doubt a few scrapes and bumps as Dominicans can?t drive forwards in a straight line, let alone reversing! And then we started to have movement...going in the other direction that is. We sat there for another 20 minutes until I finally got out of the car to see what was happening. Well, another taxi drive decided he wanted to turn around, and that is exactly what he did...after about 10 minutes!

Shortly after the congestion was over, and it was our turn to move forward. After finally passing all the road works and getting out towards Ocean Dream Plaza there was another traffic jam. It looked like a female foreigner had had some sort of accident, not sure if it was a motorbike or something, but of course there was about 20,000 Dominicans crowded around the poor girl, probably wanting to see some blood and gore. I hope that this girl was OK...it was obvious that this ambulance that was behind us earlier was trying to get to her, and thanks to the dumb drivers this poor girl had to wait.

So this taxi driver, wanting to get to his destination quicker, actually got him and his passengers, along with everybody else, there about an hour later than if he had actually waited in line.........moral of the story, ?patience is a virtue?...especially in this country.
 
Sep 19, 2005
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my buddy is dominican and he always drives when ever I go places with him.. this is a very common sight with him....right up till the last second!!!!
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bob