Santo Domingo.– The union leader and lawyer Mario Diaz warned that the road accidents in the Dominican Republic will not decrease until the authorities adopt drastic measures to prohibit the circulation of motorcycles in highways, ring roads, elevated roads, tunnels and overpassesespecially in the Greater Santo Domingo and the National District.
Díaz maintained that traffic accidents linked to motorcycles have reached alarming levels and recalled that more than 70% of road accidents involve this type of vehicle, mostly on high-speed roads, where, he said, they lack the minimum safety conditions.
“The country cannot continue ignoring this reality. How is it possible that the Duarte Highway, the Las Américas Highway, the 6 de Noviembre Highway and the Malecón de Santo Domingo are traveled by more motorcycles than by any other type of vehicle at any time of the day or night?” he questioned.
The lawyer also warned that the elevated, tunnels and overpasses have practically become exclusive motorcycle racersa situation that he described as a permanent risk for both motorcyclists and other drivers.
“The most alarming thing is that the ring roads, which are highways designed for rapid transit, today register a greater flow of motorcycles than other types of vehicles; this situation is unsustainable and requires firm decisions from the State,” he stated.
Díaz considered that the operations against offending motorists must go from being sporadic actions to permanent measuresalthough he warned that these will only have a real impact if they are accompanied by structural decisions.
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In this sense, he raised the need to definitively prohibit the circulation of motorcycles on expressways, temporarily suspend the importation of motorcycles, mandatory start of the Vehicle Technical Inspection, reduce the years of manufacture allowed to import vehicles and run a national plan for the progressive removal of conchos in a state of deterioration.
The union leader warned that, if immediate corrective measures are not applied, the Dominican transit system moving towards total collapseaggravated by the uncontrolled growth of the vehicle fleet.
“Motorcycles have become a true road pandemic, and junk cars represent around 35% of the vehicle fleet. This reality must be reviewed urgently since there is no room for more vehicles on the streets in the country,” he said.
He recalled that each year more than 250 thousand motorcycles are imported, a figure that, in his opinion, increases road chaos and raises accident rates throughout the national territory.
Finally, Mario Diaz called the Governmentto the INTRANTto the DIGESETT already the town halls to coordinate firm, sustained and structural actionsthat allow regulate the circulation of motorcycles and move towards a safer and more orderly mobility system.
