I just passed there yesterday. It's been getting progressively worse. The recent rains really made it bad. You have to slow to almost a complete stop to cross that section at Playa Congrejo.
- Thread starter SteveK
- Start date
Safety Helmets
I just passed there yesterday. It's been getting progressively worse. The recent rains really made it bad. You have to slow to almost a complete stop to cross that section at Playa Congrejo.
I had a BSA 441 as well. Fun bike, nice thumper. I was into the 650 & 750 BSA's, Trumpets, Royal Enfields and Nortons.
I almost imported my TR-6 w OD when I moved down. Thought better of it, and sold before the move. Beautiful, fully restored, like new:
I coulda sent all my unborn spawn to Harvard for what I've spent on Brit 2 and 4-wheeled iron in my lifetime.
(Note the roll bar I installed, welded in, kinda like a helmet for a sports car...)
Nice!!!!!!!!!! I owned a Spitfire in 1970. Bought in brand new. Loved the car but Trucks could not see me on the highway. Eventually sold it. My brother-in-law has a 1976 TR6 Maroon all original sitting in a garage bay in South Florida. Sadly the car hasn't run in 10 years.
Necessity is the mother of inventions. When you have limited funds or need to make a living and there is no jobs to be had, then the Government is not gonna stop someone from earning a living. Besides, they would be in the streets burning tires, huelga!
I drive small rentals in el campo, primarily Luperon. The curbs and stormwater drainage ditches are so high there, I have limited access to some areas. Despite that I try to get in and out anyway. I can't begin to imagine trying to navigate a low slung sports car there. I'm always a bit sheepish when I bring back my rentals. They rarely check the suspension. Only check for paint and glass damage and I'm happy they do. Lol!
Rather than reply in the Daily News section, I would like to make a few observations in relation to a few assertions made, perhaps from what is seen in a particular area.
Firstly motoconchistas are up in arms today in the capital about the harassment they get from AMET for not following rules:
[video=youtube_share;IGBA0wXPY2U]https://youtu.be/IGBA0wXPY2U[/video]
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...otestan-frente-al-palacio-de-forma-sorpresiva
In the capital virtually all motoconchistas and delivery drivers plying the main routes in the capital do wear crash helmets albeit they don't always strap them on and some remove the inner lining for comfort. Rarely does one see their passenger wearing a helmet albeit Uber moto drivers do carry passenger helmets. The colmado drivers using the side streets often don't use helmets but do get stopped and have their bikes confiscated. Crash helmets are infrequently used by moto drives going about their business in the outer barrios of the city.
I have yet to see in recent times an AMET officer who is on motorcycle duty not wear a crash helmet in the capital. They are very active on their green bikes and always are wearing crash helmets from what I see in my daily travels. Officers on foot obviously do not use helmets at work and it is possible one has seen them travelling to and from work as passengers which would demonstrate the folly of not making moto passengers wear helmets. I have yet to see PN wearing crash helmets and wonder if there are laws which waive them and the military from their use?
AMET do work Sundays in the zones of the city in which I travel and they don't seem to disappear at 5pm either in the rush hours, and for sure they are at work on the autopistas at weekends and during holidays. I doubt if the radar they use is much good at night so perhaps that explains why they are not visible at the usual locations after dark.
AMET have stepped up a gear in the last year for sure and the changes and improvements that are increasingly apparent in the capital may reach other parts of the country in due course as they continue to increase their manpower.
I think we should not forget the importance of a motorbike to people who are resident in the remoter areas of the country. The motorbike is their only means of transportation and transport for goods other than two feet or a mule. They cannot afford to use other forms of transport to carry that gas bottle or take the family to see other relatives. I am not condoning what we all see but there realistically has to be a two speed approach to tackling the problem of motorcycle accidents. Tackle those living in the cities and towns forcefully first whilst educating and persuading those living on the edge financially and absolutely discourage use of motos at night without lights. To this overall end, education of the youth would be an immediate first step.
Foreigners using motos in the country should always be using head protection and not surprisingly MotoCaribe does as an example as have those travelers who have posted videos of their exploits in the country. Foreigners not using crash helmets in place like Las Terrenas, and there are many, set a very bad example. Do all the foreigners posting in this thread use crash helmets in DR if they ride on two wheels as driver or passenger?
The delinquency issues with drivers on motorbikes accounting for so many robberies and assaults could be a driver of change in motorcycle use in the cities and towns imo, but unlikely to result in too much change in the campo and restricted barrios initially with that coming as society develops. But as the video shows there is a strong lobby against too much harassment.
For those that have not read the news, tomorrow morning the military is joining up with PN in ramping up security patrols and random road blocks and moto drivers will be singled out especially from certain known trouble zones.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2017/03/30/459961/siete-mil-efectivos-a-las-calles
Firstly motoconchistas are up in arms today in the capital about the harassment they get from AMET for not following rules:
[video=youtube_share;IGBA0wXPY2U]https://youtu.be/IGBA0wXPY2U[/video]
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...otestan-frente-al-palacio-de-forma-sorpresiva
In the capital virtually all motoconchistas and delivery drivers plying the main routes in the capital do wear crash helmets albeit they don't always strap them on and some remove the inner lining for comfort. Rarely does one see their passenger wearing a helmet albeit Uber moto drivers do carry passenger helmets. The colmado drivers using the side streets often don't use helmets but do get stopped and have their bikes confiscated. Crash helmets are infrequently used by moto drives going about their business in the outer barrios of the city.
I have yet to see in recent times an AMET officer who is on motorcycle duty not wear a crash helmet in the capital. They are very active on their green bikes and always are wearing crash helmets from what I see in my daily travels. Officers on foot obviously do not use helmets at work and it is possible one has seen them travelling to and from work as passengers which would demonstrate the folly of not making moto passengers wear helmets. I have yet to see PN wearing crash helmets and wonder if there are laws which waive them and the military from their use?
AMET do work Sundays in the zones of the city in which I travel and they don't seem to disappear at 5pm either in the rush hours, and for sure they are at work on the autopistas at weekends and during holidays. I doubt if the radar they use is much good at night so perhaps that explains why they are not visible at the usual locations after dark.
AMET have stepped up a gear in the last year for sure and the changes and improvements that are increasingly apparent in the capital may reach other parts of the country in due course as they continue to increase their manpower.
I think we should not forget the importance of a motorbike to people who are resident in the remoter areas of the country. The motorbike is their only means of transportation and transport for goods other than two feet or a mule. They cannot afford to use other forms of transport to carry that gas bottle or take the family to see other relatives. I am not condoning what we all see but there realistically has to be a two speed approach to tackling the problem of motorcycle accidents. Tackle those living in the cities and towns forcefully first whilst educating and persuading those living on the edge financially and absolutely discourage use of motos at night without lights. To this overall end, education of the youth would be an immediate first step.
Foreigners using motos in the country should always be using head protection and not surprisingly MotoCaribe does as an example as have those travelers who have posted videos of their exploits in the country. Foreigners not using crash helmets in place like Las Terrenas, and there are many, set a very bad example. Do all the foreigners posting in this thread use crash helmets in DR if they ride on two wheels as driver or passenger?
The delinquency issues with drivers on motorbikes accounting for so many robberies and assaults could be a driver of change in motorcycle use in the cities and towns imo, but unlikely to result in too much change in the campo and restricted barrios initially with that coming as society develops. But as the video shows there is a strong lobby against too much harassment.
For those that have not read the news, tomorrow morning the military is joining up with PN in ramping up security patrols and random road blocks and moto drivers will be singled out especially from certain known trouble zones.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2017/03/30/459961/siete-mil-efectivos-a-las-calles
In the video Amet should have been very active, they could have confiscated more than half the bikes for infractions. meaning major equipment missing be they headlights, taillight, mirrors, etc. Also in contrast to the statement above about them wearing helmets look at the video and see how many don't.
Why? A deposit system can also be used to stimulate correct disposable (meaning: not on the sidewalk (what sidewalk....?)).
True. And they used to have deposits, there was a whole cottage industry of bottle collectors, especially Presidente. They recycled their bottles, I remember some pretty scratched ones. They decided it wasn't worth the effort
Well, by having to pay collectors you'd have an additional cost, but if as a customer you pay an extra fee for your (plastic) bottle that you'll get back if you deliver it to a collection point, many customers will choose to do that instead of toss it in the gutter. The bottles can be then disposed of in a more adequate way. It would still be a cost (for the distributor / bottler) but they are the ones brining these bottles in the environment anyway. (And besides, they'll charge it to the customer).
There still is. Well, I guess, as there still is beat-up pick ups doing the rounds, buying glass bottles. But less frequency, I would say.
Also plastic gallons ( as opposed to bottles, if u see what I mean ) will disappear quickly from the bins, so I am guessing there is a "recycling industry " behind there somewhere.