Driving in Dominican Republic

This is a topic that has been covered many many times here.   

First - they drive like maniacs. There is NO respect for the law PERIOD.  IT is every man for himself.  There is NO general courtesy and stopping to let someone into traffic can result in pissed off drivers behind you. 

People here are always  in a big hurry and their time is more important than yours. 

Legal -  as a tourist your international license is good for 30 days. After that it is invalid.  That isn't likely to get you into trouble unless you are involved in an accident.

To get a drivers license you must have your residencia and cedula, then you get a license.

Planner put it very nicely. Actually:

One of the most dangerous places to drive in the world with a extremely high death rate on the roads.  Just this week on a stretch of "highway" near our home 15 lives were lost (seven  in one accident).  This is a daily occurrence somewhere  in the country

There are traffic laws but no one obeys them and no one enforces them.  Stop signs and traffic lights are just suggestions and one way streets mean you can only drive in one direction at a time.  There is very little regard for safety and courtesy.  The local traffic police only work from 9 or so in the morning till 4 or so in the evening and then usually pick one  law to enforce and see how many "gringo" then can catch violating that one law. It is a joke. A two lane road is actually a 4-5 lane road with not all lanes going in the proper direction.   Don't even get me started on the 1000s of un registered and un insured motor cycles.  Speaking which most drivers (local) here do not have insurance and a good percentage of the vehicles are in such disrepair (no lights, doors, windows, twisted frames, etc) that you wonder how they are still on the road.

I tell folks to drive here and have a chance you need 4 sets of eyes (one on each side of your head), a head that swivels 360 degrees and the reflexes of a  14 year old playing a game boy.

Like Planner said this has been discussed multiple times on this forum.

Bob K

Here is a quote from one of he local paper today discussing traffic fatalities here in the DR:

Citing UN figures Camino says it´s a regret that the country ranks second in the world in road carnage, among the 182 nations on the more traffic deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, with a rate of 41.7 deaths

nuff said

Bob K

Yup that is!

I have lived and driven here for 15 yrs now and recently saw that the DR had been voted one of the worst places to drive in the world. I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively around the world and can say that there are other countries that are a lot worse.But it is up there with them. 
Having said that there are really no rules for driving here....forget people using indicators, traffic lights are optional in many places and speed limits..nah. You have to be able to adapt fairly quickly to situations here and concentration cannot be left at home.. There are times you have to drive offensively and other times defensively.. As a foreigner,if you are involved in an accident and the other driver is injured or their car is damaged be prepared to have to pay out there and then. Insurance is very rarely used by Dominicans and you will be blamed for any and all accidents.Situations can quickly get out of hand and in my experience,if you have full insurance and all your road licenses then it is best to call the Police and wait for them to arrive before paying out any money. If you are in the right then your insurance company will also help you.
Hope this helps some of you..

Andy all true.  My wife describes driving here as a live video game.

Bob K

LOl.. Can be sometimes.. You just have to expect the unexpected and dont assume someone will turn right just because they have indicated as in all likelyhood their hand just brushed indicator by mistake.

So true Andy,  driving is a health hazard.  Saturday I was driving to the airport and passed a police vehicle,  driver had one cell phone in each hand and was trying to read them while driving......  great example!   

I have seen some of the most horrific traffic accidents here and I was involved in 1.  It was not good at all.  Police were completely  useless, they did not even file the police report until my lawyer forced the issue.  I was hit by a Presidente beer truck at 8:10 am.  No I did not get Presidente for life......LOL

At least they are polite here. They really have no road rage like in the states

Very well said and captured by all of you. I have driven here for 3years  and have put on over 30,000 miles. I drove from SD Este to Lincoln Ave everyday at 8:30am and returned at 6:30 pm. In addition to that I was an outside salesman driving around the country. Everytime I think I have seen it all some fool makes me out a liar. My observations are that while you see no road rage it took me a while to control my own. I hate inconsiderate people. It is amazing to me how Dominicans can be so nice everywhere but put them in a car and they become a___oles. And I have found women to be worse. It is their road, their space. One Dominican man told me "they like their inches" If you leave more than an inch or two between you and the car in front of you there is no doubt someone will try to cut in on you. Guaranteed. I used to wait in line going West over the bridge to the city like a courteous gringo driver. My blood pressure would rise as I watched and waited for the hundred or so cars cutting in line. I finally came to the conclusion I alone will not change their driving culture. I told myself if you can't beat them join them. Now I go right to the front and cut in with no guilt. It has always been a question for me as to why no driver will wait in line while driving but they will stand in line at a bank for two hours. I guess when they get in a car they feel they have control, they have the power. The main problem is there is no law enforcement.  Although I have 3 tickets. One for a headlight out, but I also had my fog lights on. while tho cop was talking and writing the ticket I pointed out to him the three cars that drove by with no headlights. Of course I am the Gringo with only 3 forward lights, thus I get the ticket. The other two were similar the Dominican doing exactly what I was doing was waved on and I was pulled over and given a ticket. Dont expect fair. I have observed only one rule of the road that is I won't hit you if you don't hit me. Not always true but generally so.

Well said!!!

My family drive great. They do not go the wrong way on streets or drive on sidewalks.
I am working on them running red lights and speeding and passing on blind curves. etc. They are considerate drivers by Dominican standards. But I am not having much success with my advice.

Rsmith great post and oh so true.

Bob K

AMET ( The traffic Police) are ar**holes in my opinion and always target the expats and foreigners. I have been a pedestrian and actually seen them demand money from a tourist as they left their license at the hotel.....despite having all the car hire papers present that showed a copy of it...They are worse just before Semana Santa and Christmas as that's obviously when they need more money. I have previously also been the target of their harassment too but now I speak fluent Spanish I can tell them where to go and argue that I am in the right. Just for info ...but if you mention that you want to call the Politur as you are being harassed ( tourist Police) then they tend to back down very quickly and let you go with a warning.

Good info Andy.   I have often pretended not to speak Spanish when they are harassing me.  As they keep asking me in Spanish I just up the volume of my responses......LOL

Well, all valid comments.
Here's mine:
I simply refuse to drive anywhere at night
unless is is right in town, (Cabrera).
Here in town, the drivers are very good.
Everywhere else is as you all say, nuts!
I don't understand why people are soooo good in Cabrera.
Also, an International licence is just what it says it is Planner.
Good luck on our roads!
Oh yeah, the potholes are not so good.

Yes not speaking Spanish can help in these circumstance.

Once got stopped for going the wrong way on a street.  They actually changed the direction of the street two days before but no signs were in yet only a small arrow on the pavement.  So they stopped 4 of us.  3 Dominicans and me.  Guess who got the ticket...... Yes me.  How surprising. .  So I called my friend who was an AMET Sargent.  Gave him 300 pesos and the ticket ....vanished.  Going to the fical and court would have cost me half a day and $2000RD.  Great system

Bob K

Bobby! That's illegal!
Planner will reprimand you.

Hahahahaha   She will..... bad boy Bob.... very bad......     Working the system is what is needed here for sure......

I have on occasion traded a "date" for a friends ticket...... she had just bought a car and got pulled over. WE had no paperwork etc   yet and in fact were driving to that office......  well I sweet talked the AMET and ended up going dancing with him the next weekend.....  She got out of the ticket!   

Well I have not gotten to the point of selling my body yet

But then with my body I would not get much

Bob K

Hmmm, I guess I need to learn more Spanish and more dance moves in order to avoid the inevitable. The one female officer that gave me a ticket I am sure I could not have gotten my arms around for a dance. Is it possible to pick who you get your ticket from?

Driving in the Dominican Republic is akin to driving within a video game but without the benefit of a reset switch.  You don't have multiple lives, either.  And it is considered very bad form to run over people, cows, horses, dogs and cats.  Well, maybe not so much cats.  But still...

Seriously, it is a definite challenge because you never know what you will encounter.  Imagine cruising down the road only to see an entire herd of cattle coming at you from around the corner.  Or you are zipping along singing your favorite Eagles song when a donkey laden with milk barrels and two little kids whipping it to move pop out from behind a grocery store.  Or, best one ever, you find yourself stopped on the road by ruffians with firearms asking you if you have a firearm (albeit only in Spanish and they really only want to have money for a beer) [P.S.  the "ruffians" are the police...actual police..makes Ferguson look tame].

Unless you have experience driving in Brazil, Portugal, Italy or some of the other crazier countries on the planet.  The DR may intimidate the heck out of you. 

All the above said, and it is true, driving here is not that bad once you get used to the concept of being "super aware" all of the time.  You know, like you are supposed to be whenever you drive a car?  Just be very, very aware and you'll be absolutely fine and see some of the funniest, most memorable things ever.  It's a lovely country!!!

This is a very interesting topic with some interesting and over-exaggerated answers.

In the years that I had visited the country, and after establishing recently, I hadn't have one single problem, and I have travelled the whole Island from North to South and West to East. Most of the fatal accidents in the roads of D.R. are related to the ingestion of alcohol, and more than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-25. Alcoholism is a big issue in the Dominican society, also I'm not going to deny the fact that some of them like to break the road rules. But this is something that happens anywhere in the world, and developed countries aren't the exception. In U.S for example over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year, an additional 2.35 million are injured or disabled, over 1,600 children under 15 years of age die each year. Nearly 8,000 people are killed in crashes involving drivers ages 16-20. All that without counting as ridicule as it sounds, the fatalities caused by shootings related to racial-motivated disputes in parking lots for a free spot.

I have been stopped more by the police in La Romania (3 times) than anywhere else in the Island, and if you behave quietly and be friendly, they let you continue and wish you a safe trip. The last time I was stopped again was when leaving Barahona, and that was to advise me to avoid giving a lift to anyone due that some delinquents where assaulting drivers when asking for a lift.

Also, in most of the so called developed countries, the police cartels are a total shame for protecting only the interest of the governments instead of citizens.

I wonder if defamation and slander against a state institution doesn't applies here also?

Interesting and over exaggerated......  Well come back and tell us that when YOU have over 10 years experience here! 

Consider yourself lucky so far! I wish that for everyone.

There is a reason we are considered in the top % of traffic fatalities by population. There is a reason we are considered in the top %  for danger on the roads!  That is not an over exaggeration. Those are cold hard facts based on  population and percentages NOT based on  just total numbers.

You took the words right out of my mouth

Sorry Planner, we are 2nd in the world for fatalities/1000.
It just seems like we are numero uno!
We are however, numero uno in so many other things!

Top % was written cause I don't know exactly.....  top 5% top 2%  still too flippin high.

It's quite interesting how everybody provide numbers without a relievable source.

Dominican Today quote on the 2nd place.

It was recently reported in All the local national papers.

If you have not had a problem maybe you haven't driven here enough.  We have a saying in surgery that  if you have not seen a know complication of a procedure than you have not done enough of them   Also another is BLTG  better lucky than good.  Here it does not really matter how good a driver you are, you need some luck as well.

Bob K

I have not had any problem whatsoever. And as I previously said, I get to drive a lot around the entire Island. Sayings are just that, sayings.

There aren't any rules of the road except what the customs are with each town being different in how they drive on the road. In Bonao, red lights are optional and usually looked at like it's a green light. Except at specific big intersections. Maybe 1-2 in the entire city. And red really means green at late hours.  It makes for easy driving in this city.

DRTuttle, I think you are living in a dream world.
Either that or you are a very lucky driver!
REALLY!

10th on this one https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/10-most-d … 22236.html

In top 25 on this one http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa … rs/283886/

2nd in this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c … death_rate

7th on this one http://jalopnik.com/5926297/the-ten-cou … t-drivers/

I guess what I am trying to say is that the Dominican Republic IS a very dangerous place to drive.

Guess Planner is right and you have been very lucky

USA at #4? I don't think so. Maybe if you label it "Miami". That would make more sense as all the immigrants from Central and South America are flocking there. They have no idea how to drive. Never took a class. Don't have drivers licenses but they are all on the road

The best time to drive around, at least in the smaller cities are just after it rains. No one is on the roads You have about a 10-25 minute time frame before they start hitting the streets again.

Yep  when the rain starts the motos disappear.  Love it....

Wait  a minute "when the rain starts"   ..rain.. what is rain???? 

Bob K

Rain?
Right Bob. I don't know what that is anymore!
We had 90 percent chance of thunderstorms last night!
NADA!

You must be reading the Weather Underground.  Totally worthless site.  The other day we had 100% chance of thunderstorms with 1.5 inches of rain and you guessed it....Nada.

Yesterday they had Puerto Plata as mostly cloudy and 90F.  Actually it was an absolute cloudless afternoon and temp was 95.  I have no idea where they get their data from??


Bob K

We got about 1/2 inch yesterday.