Ines on transportation

[NewsWhore]

Today's popular A.M. column in Diario Libre asks the question: Transportation? Editorial commentator Ines Aizpun asks the question because she feels that there is no safety on the streets. The award-winning journalist says that logic dictates that vehicles used for public transportation should be inspected with much more acuity than those used for private use. All said, if a person wants to travel in a poorly kept vehicle, that's their problem. However, if this is a lucrative business and hundreds of people put their lives at risk, then that is another matter. This is the authorities' business. The editorial goes on to say that we have assumed that here everything is the opposite. It is totally unacceptable that the pubic accepts as normal the use of the filth we call public transportation. She points out that there are 12 different government entities responsible for regulating the transport sector, all of which are useless, obsolete and therefore expensive. As soon as one of these is shown to be inefficient, another one is created on top of the previous one. All of this is paid out of our pockets. The drivers ignore red lights; they think No Passenger zones are places to pick up passengers; and they mistreat their passengers with filthy, rusty seats. They don't have windows, and, sometimes doors, these junk-heaps the authorities certify and back as adequate for use by the public. The transport unions are responsible for the accidents that these people create. And they should pay. The most recent case was the accident that killed Antonia Castro, who was traveling in a minivan belonging to FENATRANO. Aizpun also says that the authorities bear part of the responsibility in this case since they allow this type of vehicle to carry passengers and for not stopping the irresponsible drivers who disobey basic traffic laws day in and day out on any of the streets of Santo Domingo.

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