The problems is just plain stupid people driving with zero thought about safety or concern of others. Its a cultural thjng.
- Thread starter Dolores
- Start date
Carnage on Dominican roads is serious issue
Savages without any regards for the laws, simple courtesy, their safety, never mind the safety of others - have you not seen these folks taking advantages of the right-away of an ambulance and following it just to beat the traffic?
There is a video going viral of a Honda doing this in one of the main ave of Santo Domingo..
Exactly. Anyone driving here with experience elsewhere would know this. Asking for Government intervention will do nothing.................These idiots would do anything to get ONE car length ahead of you. Pathetic...............
The government won't take action. They will not require active licenses to drive for big trucks - and they won't stop vehicles running red lights nor driving where lanes don't exist
It is the DR - all they care about is the number of AI hotels they can fill in Punta Cana and how much money they can rake off
In short: they don't give a f*ck!
I always wonder which vehicle's brakes are going to fail next. Hell have the pickups used for hauling don't have bumpers, they have crooked frames and many have no windshield.
A garbage truck that comes through our neighborhood has a leaking diesel tank - significant. You would think he would plug it for the cost of fuel - but nope he has been leaking for 6 months +
Not even two f*cks.
They vehicle laws here skip the foreplay and go right to the five-play
They won't let you import vehicles older than that, but once the vehicle enters the country and the aduana/DGII has been paid what it's been paid, the story ends... No inspections, worst case scenario no competent mechanics, so it's with everything govt related, all that matters is that shiny things are imported but the stuff that's in here, can be treated like s**t... I recall having heard about inspections being started a few years ago, but then I suppose absolutely nothing came out from that?
This is one reason why I do not prefer to travel by taxi, rental car nor a guagua... I don't know in what condition they are in.... If the vehicle is mine, I know the condition and can influence it... I can even do all the work myself and get parts from abroad I like to... Then the only thin I have to buy in the DR is gasoline and possibly engine oil...
This morning at 6:00 having my usual coffee among roaring moto’s and camions I heard a new loud thumping sound, sure enough it was a pickup with flat front tires. Obviously determined to keep going to his destination.
The worst offenders are the carritos. Packed with seven people, they overtake in crazy situations in order to get one car ahead, only to pull up without warning 100 yards further on. I was in a gua-gua going from Caberete to Sabeneta the other day. Not a thing I have to do often, thank God. All the passengers crammed in were complaining that the crazy driver didn't care about being responsible for so many lives.
In many countries trucks have speed limiters which does help to reduce loss of lives. I have never heard of a law here enforcing speed limiters for trucks and buses/coaches but it would be a good idea to start with that, plus regular mandatory vehicle inspections. Agreed, speed limiters can be manipulated so it is not a 100% foolproof system but by introducing them and applying very heavy fines if found to have been manipulated some people might think twice. The speeds that some of these heavy vehicles travel at is frightening. The same system should be introduced for all taxis, guagua's and carritos although with their union the chance of that happening would be a fine thing. I might be dreaming here but it would possibly make a difference to the safety of our roads here!
Just like when you are standing in a line...anything to get in front of you
exactly WW... that is why most days I am in a taxi, and not in my car.........
I do often get the impression reading DR1 that things are very different in the capital to on the north coast. Things are changing in the capital and people are following rules far more than they used to several years ago. The cars are generally newer - you don't see the old wrecks that you used to see a few years ago, with the exception of some of the public taxis. The motos still run red lights but in the day generally the cars don't. The trucks are definitely the biggest issue.