So far, in October of 2024, at least four persons have lost their lives in vehicular accidents. The latest cases are those of an influencer and his wife who were struck and killed on the highway leading to San Cristobal, and another case in Ciudad Juan Bosch where an underage boy drove a car into a family crossing the road, killing at least one person. But these are just the most recent series of incidents that cause so much pain in Dominican families.
According to the most recent statistics from the General of Traffic and Transportation Safety Agency (Digesett), there have been 1,619 traffic fatalities so far in 2024. The statistics show that over 1,000 of these deaths were caused by a collision; loss of control is said to have caused 325 deaths; 212 pedestrians have died, and single-vehicle crashes have caused 49 fatalities. Other fatalities were caused by going off the road, overturned vehicles, or being crushed by falling debris.
As is well known, motorcycles were involved in the vast majority of fatal motor vehicle incidents, as the Digesett reported 1,156 cases involving fatal results. The detailed statistics show that 199 persons killed in traffic accidents were pedestrians, 103 were in cars, 57 in SUVs, 42 in trucks, 21 in other types of vehicles, and the rest were in buses, on bicycles, backhoes, and buggies.
In 2023, some 1,949 persons lost their lives in traffic accidents. The Dominican Republic leads the world in traffic deaths per 100,000 population. Unfortunately, there are no statistics as to the causes of these accidents, but it is perceived that alcohol, exhaustion, and inexperience could be the leading causes.
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Listin Diario
21 October 2024