Traffic in the Dominican Republic

 Republic of the Dominican

This past winter break, I had the privilege of visiting Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic with my family. We had a beautiful time swimming in the Caribbean water, soaking up the sun and exploring the island. We ventured on a guided tour through "rural" Dominican Republic. We visited a local village where we met the teachers and school children before heading up to the top of a mountain to observe coffee bean production, cigar rolling and cocoa plants. I'm not convinced that we experienced the authentic Dominican lifestyle as the school was funded by the tour company and the farm on the mountain was owned and operated by affiliates of the company. Regardless, it was informational and we learned a lot about the culture of the Dominican Republic. 

Dominican Cocoa

Inside of a Cocoa plant

Cigar Rolling

Our tour guide talked a lot about how Dominican's make a living. Because of the tobacco, cocoa and coffee exports there is always opportunities in agriculture. Individuals will also commute from their villages for months at a time to work at resorts in Punta Cana, Cap Cana and the southern part of the Island as housekeepers and servers. Certain business laws prevent individuals from being able to purchase real estate for their business so many families sell products such as art and food right inside their own home. I noticed that residents of the Dominican Republic are always looking for ways to make money. Children will run up and down the beaches soliciting hats made from palm leaves and older gentlemen will sell wooden crafts. 

During the ride from our resort to the village, we traveled on main highways as well as dirt roads. The main roads were well-paved with lines drawn, traffic lights and for the most part people paid attention to traffic laws. Compared to the driving situation in India, it was much safer. I did notice 3, 4 even 5 individuals riding on motorcycles and several people riding in the flat bed of trucks. The passengers were almost exclusively men. Later on our tour guide mentioned that this is how some individuals earn a living in the Dominican. Many people commute to more urban areas for work or to other villages and don't have means of transportation. Therefore they rely on friends or family members to drive them there for a small fee. Our tour guide said that more often than not, the passengers are friends of the driver. They drove at or above the posted speed limit and none of the individuals wore seat belts. As discussed in class, this presents a major public health concern because of fatalities, medical costs, loss of productivity and implications on their village or family members. However, there is a lack of public transportation in the Dominican and residents must find a way to get back and forth from their job. Even if individuals were required to wear helmets or they restricted the passengers to 2, it would create a safer environment.