SANTO DOMINGO.-The imprudence committed daily on the country’s roads by motorists, such as crossing red lights, getting on the sidewalks where pedestrians walk, passing on the right and traveling at high speed, do not go unnoticed, and neither do the accidents.
Despite the obvious violations of mobility and traffic laws, the authorities usually ignore these failures, which shows the lack of controls for these drivers.
At specific times such as Easter and the Christmas and New Year festivities, inspection of motors on the streets is intensified, with insurance inspection, use of protective helmets and others.
If you look at news headlines about traffic accidents, the leadership of the motors always stands out, both in the number of people who die and in the number of cases in which they are involved at the time of crashes, where even those that occur between the same motorists.
Constant danger
According to orthopedist Marcelo Puello, going out on the streets or roads of the Dominican territory has become a latent danger with constant accidents, violence and mental health problems.
“We go out to kill ourselves or be killed every day because of the high violence that exists, the mental insecurity, because of the problem that has become chaos and that the Dominican State has not found a way to solve it with the issue of traffic in the big cities,” he lamented.
Added to this, according to the specialist, is the non-compliance, the lack of progress, planning and resolution of what has to do with traffic, this after considering that the problem is getting out of hand of the authorities.
He explained that motorcyclists walk uncontrollably crossing traffic lights, but they also do not respect the agents of the General Directorate of Traffic and Land Transportation Security (Digesett) and the motorists buy it without complications.
From a health point of view, the specialist indicated that the State spends millions in resources to care for accident victims, especially motorcyclists, because there is no penalty when driving a motor and it is easily purchased.
He recalled the importance of applying motor traffic accident insurance, so as not to waste economic resources.
The figures reflect it
With the displacement of approximately seven million 700 thousand individuals along the different highways and roads of the country, the problem, which has become a daily occurrence, continued to increase during the New Year’s holiday, with a total of 158 road accidents, which affected approximately 185 people when they traveled.
The director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez, explained that of that number, 123 involved motorcycles, which represents 78% of the cases, followed by 11 light vehicles, 10 run overs, nine SUVs, two pickup trucks, a bus, a van and a buggy.
These accidents occurred in the second phase of the “Conscience for Life 2024-2025” operation, from December 30 at 2:00 in the afternoon until the first day at 6:00 in the afternoon, leaving 30 people dead.
Of this total of deaths, nine occurred within the road safety device and 21 outside it; In addition, 23 were caused by motorcycles, five by light vehicles and two by being run over.
The data from the Christmas and New Year phases are added, the cumulative total would be 262 accidents, 316 injuries and 42 deaths. This last figure, Méndez revealed, shows an increase of four deaths compared to last year.
“We are talking about an increase compared to last year of about 500 thousand people in mobility… and with greater mobility, the greater the probability of accidents.
And unfortunately motorcycles continue to be the big headache for the authorities and the country in the number of fatalities,” he said.
The director of the Digesett, Francisco Osoria, highlighted that the vehicle fleet and especially motorcycles has increased, so they do not have control through technology, so they only control where they have a presence.
The provinces that recorded the most cases were Santo Domingo (13%), San Pedro de Macorís (8%), San Cristóbal (7%), La Altagracia and Puerto Plata (6%) and the National District (5%).
Méndez reported that 560 people intoxicated by alcohol were treated, of which 73 turned out to be minors between the ages of 12 and 17. 93 people were also treated for food poisoning.
During this last operation, 30,042 assistance to the public was carried out, of which 25,082 were road assistance.
The Civil Defense provided 286 health care services, consisting of domestic emergencies, blood pressure checks, headaches and treatment, etc.
Called
— Reflect
Méndez called on the population to reflect on the actions they carry out, placing emphasis on alcohol poisoning in which children are affected, who should be in the care of their parents.
During the holiday there were 1,390 motorcycles stopped
Retention. The General Directorate of Traffic and Land Transportation Security (Digesett) reported that during the year-end operation, 266 heavy vehicles were detained for traveling without permission, 1,390 motorcycles and 42 light vehicles for traveling with people on the cargo side.
Likewise, it carried out 25,459 inspections for different violations of Law 63-17, among which 7,056 motorcyclists stand out for traveling without a protective helmet, 1,472 for violating the red light, 1,165 for traveling without a seat belt, 1,021 for speeding, 517 for cell phone use.
