Originally Posted by
weyland
Rubicon, I know nothing of your private life and upbringing (and I am not inviting you to tell me), so I could be quite out of order here, but you have never struck me as someone who had a pampered and sheltered upbringing or an easy ride since. I on the other hand did have (by world standards) a pampered and sheltered upbringing in a lower-middle-class family in a quiet, leafy dormitory town near London, England. I am congenitally lazy, and have always avoided discomfort, squalor or inconvenience. And I am now 72 and in poor health. But, apart the odd occasion when a friend gives me a lift, I rely on public transport here, motoconchos, publicos and guaguas, and I have never once found it to be hell. Sometimes it is a mild inconvenience, but that is compensated for by the extreme economy and the frequent entertainment derived from seeing Dominicans and Haitians doing and saying their thing in a non-gringo environment. So if it doesn't bug this pampered wimp I think it is a gross exaggeration to call it "hell".
Not true. The traffic in the First World nations might be more congested and complex, but it is in no way as dangerous as in the DR. You only have to compare the death rates. I believe the chances of dying in a traffic accident are twelve times as high in the DR as in the UK per head of population despite the vastly greater vehicle usage in the latter. And the problem doesn't end there. If you are injured in the First World, you will probably get prompt and competent treatment which will minimise the risk of permanent disability. Over here treatment for even a relatively minor injury could be so delayed, or so incompetent, that you will suffer the rest of your life for something which you might have forgotten about within six months in a First World country.
That is not an argument for using public transport here, of course. In fact public transport is more dangerous. It is however an argument for considering "is your journey really necessary?"
Worse than the presumption of gringo guit is the way the incident might be dealt with. If someone is hurt, or if you damage the property of one of the elite (army officer, politico, or anyone connected) you will be taken to prison and kept in an environment which threatens your health and well-being, and you will be given no help in extracting yourself. You won't be given food, clean drinking water or access to a proper toilet or to a telephone unless you have sufficient cash on you for a bribe. Now people like Rubicon or Mr Happy or DCIronman may know the drill and have the contacts to manage the situation, but someone just visiting on holiday and who may speak little or no Spanish may fall over themselves to pay $US10,000+ to get out of jail after only a few days there, and will be only too glad to be put on the next plane out of the country and scrap the the rest of their trip. And all for something which in a First World country would be dealt with by exchanging insurance details or visiting the police station at your own convenience to fill out a report.
This is a worse case scenario, but it does happen (ask 8orBetter) and newbies should be aware of all these factors when deciding whether they really need to hire a car to enjoy their trip, when the great majority of members here manage very well without doing so.
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