milleniunthug said:
true, true...but after my 4 day stay in puerto plata I will be driving to san francisco de macoris for 3 days and then to santo domingo, so I figure a $200 car rental fee is not bad since I will be getting around...thanks for the replies
What ever you do, remember the following tips:
1. Don't drive at night. The roads are fine, but its the cars with broken headlights and high speed drunk driving the problem! Also, in rural areas there could be cows, goats, you name it in the middle of the road or might jump out of nowhere onto the road, just in time for you to slam into them. Whatever you do, don't drive at night.
2. Don't take a risk with gasoline. When it hits half a tank, fill up. Many stations close after dark and sometimes, some stations may be short on gas. Other times you may not find a gas station for kilometers, especially in rural areas.
3. If you have really never driven in the DR, be cautious and never expect the other driver to actually follow the laws. Don't expect that because you have the right of way that it will be given to you. Also, be careful when a guagua gets in front of you. They do have a tendency to slam their brakes very often, even when they are going at high speeds on the main highways.
Also, technically driving laws in the DR are the same as the US, but few people follow them all the time. As in the US, you can pass a car by crossing onto the opposite lane in a two lane road only on the stretches where the yellow line closest to your lane is broken as oppose to a smooth long yellow line.
In the DR, people will pass you on the left regardless if the yellow median line is broken or straight and unbroken or if the yellow line does not exist on some roads.
Despite all of this, driving is pretty easy and straight forward, especially in certain stretches of the countryside along the main roads.
Good luck!
-NALs