A question on everyone’s mind in the Dominican Republic is when the Dominican government will start to regulate the lawless driving of motorcyclists. Motorcyclists are involved in upwards of 80% of traffic accidents in the country, with traffic accidents now at epidemic levels.
This week, the Presidency issued a note indicating that the National Institute of Transport and Transit (Intrant) is working on a resolution to regulate delivery services. The Dominican Republic is full of transit laws that no one complies with, including the Intrant law. Intrant seems to have hopes the resolution with new rules for motorcyclists will be a step in the right direction.
The reality is that delivery bikes are the plague. They regularly drive in opposite directions on city roads, and make use of sidewalks to get fast to their destinations. They zig-zag in traffic, breaking all the rules.
Intrant is under a new director after its previous director Hugo Beras was accused of signing on to a billion peso deal ripe with irregularities in November 2023. President Luis Abinader named Army Colonel Randolfo Rijo Gomez as the acting director (Decree 578-23).
In its coverage of the epidemic of motorcycle accidents, Diario Libre says that the Dario Contreras Trauma Hospital alone has attended 12,507 motorcycle accident victims with different traumas in 2023.
The number of motorcycles in circulation has been increasing significantly, as motorcycle rides are the only way people can skirt the major delays of traffic jams in the capital city. In 2023 alone, 217,542 motorcycles were added to the national vehicle park. There are now 3,281,018 units in circulation.
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Presidency
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
6 March 2024