[StitlyDute]

Someone please explain this to me…


I am on Duarte around 7am in the morning and saw a red light so I stop. I am the first one to be stopped and waiting for the light to turn green. Then to my left a 80’s Camry and old truck comes and to the further right few cars appears to be doing same thing as well. They ignore the red light and go avoiding couple of crossing traffics along the way. About 5 seconds later I find them going 50km or less on Duarte. Meanwhile I am in a hurry and I need to go 110-120 so I can be at my work around 7:15 picking up couple of passengers along the way. I want to be in my office little early so I can read some news and prepare today’s work. So I fellow two cars seems like going soooooo slow at matching speed of 50km or less, I honked and high beamed and nothing. They just ignore it all. It feels like this is happens to me every day with different cars. Tell me what are they trying to do here? What do they get out of passing me on the red lights risking their life like that, just to be caught up by me and other cars in less than a mile? To those understand DR motorists better please shed some light on to this…

[truttyMab]

my friend has a perfect expression for that: chapstick di*k. those are people who seem to be perfectly normal but whenever they have a chance to show off their "superiority" over other drivers, their tiny, greased up di*k sticks its midget head out, like a shift in a chapstick. and it trembles, shakes and wobbles as they SHOW YOU WHAT THEY ARE MADE OFF.

so, basically, ignore. there is nothing you can do apart from pulling next to them at the red lights and swinging your handy machete at their minuscule chapstick wiener.

[Nwxffgke]

Simple:

Rules are made for the "OTHER" guy, has nothing to do with speed.


I had to leave my car home the other day, the "Horn" was broke.

[Phlkxkbh]

Someone please explain this to me…


I am on Duarte around 7am in the morning and saw a red light so I stop. I am the first one to be stopped and waiting for the light to turn green. Then to my left a 80’s Camry and old truck comes and to the further right few cars appears to be doing same thing as well. They ignore the red light and go avoiding couple of crossing traffics along the way. About 5 seconds later I find them going 50km or less on Duarte. Meanwhile I am in a hurry and I need to go 110-120 so I can be at my work around 7:15 picking up couple of passengers along the way. I want to be in my office little early so I can read some news and prepare today’s work. So I fellow two cars seems like going soooooo slow at matching speed of 50km or less, I honked and high beamed and nothing. They just ignore it all. It feels like this is happens to me every day with different cars. Tell me what are they trying to do here? What do they get out of passing me on the red lights risking their life like that, just to be caught up by me and other cars in less than a mile? To those understand DR motorists better please shed some light on to this…

Personally I don't think you can explain this behavior 100%.
Some say it is machismo (also called a feeling of superiority) some say it is just the complete lack of patience.
To describe traffic (and with traffic I also mean the use of shopping-carts in the supermarket) in the DR is impossible and the opposite of logic. You can not explain why they stop in the middle of the road to talk with each other about absolutely nothing (the same thing in the supermarket) , you can not explain why they can not wait for a traffic-light or anything else (I wish they had the same eagerness when they are working).
You can not explain why they overtake (with 5km/h more speed) in a curve or somewhere where it is impossible to overtake another car...

It's one of the mysteries of life but go with the flow and just enjoy this stupidity; at least that is what I (try to) do every time.

[rJohutozsfds]

If 70% of drivers in our first world environments had never had a driving lesson, never read a highway code, and never felt any penalty for driving without a license or knowledge, the roads would be exactly the same.

I personally love the driving in Santo Domingo, drive with equal disrespect for everyone else and you needn't be held up that much.

[enasseneiff]

I read on this board some where that if you are a driver from another country then you had better have a very good sense of humor to drive in the DR......... Having seen the way they drive in the DR they were right.

[PoideAdelereX]

Koreano: At 6:00 a.m. hardly anyone obeys traffic lights. Look both ways and go through! The AMET are not awake at that hour!

Really! I wonder where on the Duarte Highway this occurred? By Leche Rica? Go through! By Colorado? Go through! By Fabril? Go though!!

and Forgetaboutit!!

BTW, I have bumped cars that pull that sh!t on me!! A light tap!! Lots of horn and a tap and they get the message!!

And then zooooommmmm! Away you go...

I have also used the shoulder, many times...the a##holes don't learn...
I have also dreamed of driving a APC down the highway and never slowing down for the a##holes who brake on the highway. Then in Santo Domingo I would wash the blood and guts off the APC and go back north. I would bet that after a few trips people might learn....Trujillo had the right idea at times...(sorry but he did)


HB

[DoctorGordanBens]

I read on this board some where that if you are a driver from another country then you had better have a very good sense of humor to drive in the DR......... Having seen the way they drive in the DR they were right.

From what I've experienced you gotta have self-control!

[MeatteCen]

I just want a state sand truck with a V snow blade run it about 4'' off the ground and peel them like a banana

[Ganoshenko]

Give me a break...........
if you can drive in NYC - you can drive anywhere.

NYC, the taxistas push you, you park where you want, blow the horn all the time.......... what's new ???

Overblown BS............. lo siento

[xsexymasterix]

Old Dominican Question:How is a woman like a trafic light???
You don't respect either one after midnight!
Their bad behavior,under any circumstance, can be understood,if you just rememberthat,
No Dominicans are EVER,cradle to grave were taught personal responsibiliy,or empathy.
They just do whatever pleases them,anytime,anywhere.
I just sent an email to Jetblue,complaining
about all the Dominican parents on a flight from Boston to SD,allowing their small children to run around on the airplane,in flight.One airpocket/turbulance,and they could be badly injured,or fall on a seated passenge,injuring them.
I know Jetblue doesn't care,but at least I tried.
And if a kid falls on me,I can prove "Prior Knowledge"!!!

[ZAtlLVos]

They just do whatever pleases them,anytime,anywhere.

And they fight for their rights to break the law.

San Cristóbal
Militarizan autopista 6 de Noviembre para impedir disturbios de camioneros | Noticias SIN - Servicios Informativos Nacionales





donP

[chuecfafresslds]

Koreano: At 6:00 a.m. hardly anyone obeys traffic lights. Look both ways and go through! The AMET are not awake at that hour!

Really! I wonder where on the Duarte Highway this occurred? By Leche Rica? Go through! By Colorado? Go through! By Fabril? Go though!!

and Forgetaboutit!!

BTW, I have bumped cars that pull that sh!t on me!! A light tap!! Lots of horn and a tap and they get the message!!

And then zooooommmmm! Away you go...

I have also used the shoulder, many times...the a##holes don't learn...
I have also dreamed of driving a APC down the highway and never slowing down for the a##holes who brake on the highway. Then in Santo Domingo I would wash the blood and guts off the APC and go back north. I would bet that after a few trips people might learn....Trujillo had the right idea at times...(sorry but he did)


HB

I almost fell out of my chair!!!! HB, I didn't make you out as being the type for that kind of road rage!!

[chuecfafresslds]

Give me a break...........
if you can drive in NYC - you can drive anywhere.

NYC, the taxistas push you, you park where you want, blow the horn all the time.......... what's new ???

Overblown BS............. lo siento

WW, you are waaay off base there! I am NYC born and raised.....I earned my stripes driving on the streets of NY. NOTHING prepared me for driving in Santo Domingo! First time doing so I almost wiped out a dozen of those damn pasolas!!!

Don't even get me started about that corner of Duarte & Paris...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[PoideAdelereX]

Petey Pablo:

Believe me it is shared with hundreds, if not thousands, of my fellow drivers. The insanity on that highway is incredible.
The fact that you go around a curve up a hill and come to a damned stoplight???? Gimme a break!! My hero is Dr. Joaquin Balaguer who completed the highway, providing lanes for slow-moving vehicles to stay on the right going up hills....at Miranda and at La Cumbre (Arroyo Vuelta)...and eliminating Villa Altagracia, Bonao, La Vega and Moca from the highway!!!

But, yes, as you can see below my rant, there are others that feel the same way...I never thought of a snowplow, but that would work, too!!


I do keep it repressed in my old age...but my vocabulary is still fluent!


HB

[Ganoshenko]

WW, you are waaay off base there! I am NYC born and raised.....I earned my stripes driving on the streets of NY. NOTHING prepared me for driving in Santo Domingo! First time doing so I almost wiped out a dozen of those damn pasolas!!!

Don't even get me started about that corner of Duarte & Paris...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well PP, I will admit that the open manholes in SD are a hazard I had never seen before.

NYC these has bicycles which present new challenges and the moto population is on the rise there too.

I just keep the 360 degree antennae working and seem to muddle through.

The SD drivers and the NYC taxi drivers have many similarities as I see them - pushy lane swappers

[gamecasta]

I'd be scared to drive in Santo Domingo, but one difference I did notice, is that there doesn't seem to be as much road rage in SD as in NYC. The first day I got back to NYC a couple months ago I witnessed three confrontations (one in manhattan and two in Brooklyn). During my several month stay in SD, I never saw incidents of road rage despite all the craziness.

[rJohutozsfds]

Hmm, it is committed road rage in SD, they pull guns on each other for right of way. The mayor of Cabarete keeps shooting at people who don't give him right of way, I think he was arrested for an hour or two last time he did it. Road rage is different, bull bars are required for dunching offenders if they pi$$ you off. But I admit, there is not so much arm waving, and shouting, just punching, dunching and shooting.

[massons]

Koreano: At 6:00 a.m. hardly anyone obeys traffic lights. Look both ways and go through! The AMET are not awake at that hour!

Really! I wonder where on the Duarte Highway this occurred? By Leche Rica? Go through! By Colorado? Go through! By Fabril? Go though!!

and Forgetaboutit!!

BTW, I have bumped cars that pull that sh!t on me!! A light tap!! Lots of horn and a tap and they get the message!!

And then zooooommmmm! Away you go...

I have also used the shoulder, many times...the a##holes don't learn...
I have also dreamed of driving a APC down the highway and never slowing down for the a##holes who brake on the highway. Then in Santo Domingo I would wash the blood and guts off the APC and go back north. I would bet that after a few trips people might learn....Trujillo had the right idea at times...(sorry but he did)


HB

A heaping helping of Trujillisimo would do wonders for the country right now. And to the OP as far as driving in DR, when in Rome.....................

[xsexymasterix]

I tell people in Boston,arguably worse drivers than NYC,that driving in the DR is "Just Like Here",except,when you get to an intersection,before you cross,look left,look right,look in front,look behind,if all those are clear you can proceed,"Oh!",one more thing,look up,then look down,THEN "Take A Chance".Doesn't apply at night,Dominicans either have 6 Xenons on high beam,or no lights at all.
When I had my van,I put 4, 500,000 candle power lights on the roof,two on my "Defensa",and I put super bright bulbs in the normal front head lights.I drove around at night with just the lowbeams on,however,if an approaching driver would not dim their lights,"Wham",I hit them with "Everything".I think I could hear their retinas frying!!!!
I once sat in the van at night,and shown??? my lights in a reflective store window, and "WOW"! it even scarred me!
My way of life here is to "Do Unto Others"!
Try blocking the street,or supermarket lanes in front of a Dominican and see how they,instantly" react.

Maybe the guys can get out some of their pentup rage before they get home,and not beat their "pareja" as severely as usual,
"Just Say'n"
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