Lawmakers call for tougher consequences for violence involving motorcyclists

Santo Domingo.- Deputies from different blocs agreed that the recent violent events recorded on public roads, in which motorcyclists have been involved, must be confronted with the strict application of the consequences regime contemplated in the Penal Code and traffic laws, while demanding greater fiscalization and road education. Congressman Carlos de Pérez maintained that cases of aggression following traffic accidents should be treated under the rigor of the Penal Code, differentiating them from involuntary road incidents. “One thing is a traffic accident that is understood to be involuntary and another thing is the subsequent aggression to that“, he expressed. He also questioned the seizure of motorcycles when they are not directly linked to criminal activities, pointing out that in cases of violence “what applies is the penalties of the Penal Code for blows and injuries“. From his side, deputy Eugenio Cedeño stated that “violence has no face of motorcyclists or drivers“, and assured that the problem must be addressed in an integral way. He indicated that the authorities have with sufficient legal tools to act, but that the Transit Law is not being effectively applied.

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“How good that this is happening right now, because I believe that this provokes an awakening for both the police authorities and the Public Ministry to act drastically when these types of cases occur. But there is a legal tool. Here there is no need to wait or modify the traffic law, on the contrary, with the issue of motorcyclists, what happens is that the law is not being applied in a vertical way”, expressed Cedeño.

Meanwhile, Representative Robinson Díaz considered that the traffic problem in the country mainly responds to the lack of road culture and institutional weaknesses, for which he considered that the Government should “relaunch” the issue of traffic and criticized that control and identification initiatives for motorcyclists promoted in previous administrations of the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant) did not have continuity. “I believe the government has to relaunch the issue of transit. The Intrant is unfortunately not doing what it has to do because it is the institution that must organize, that must regulate. We have to address an issue that has to do with educational roots, we have to talk about an educational plan, we have to talk about an issue of fiscalization,” he pointed out. The occurrence of recent violent episodes involving motorcyclists has rekindled concern about road safety and the effectiveness of the authorities in dealing with these types of situations in the Dominican Republic. The most recent case was recorded yesterday when a motorcyclist violently assaulted a woman with a protective helmet, following a traffic accident on the Rafael Fernández Domínguez highway, near the free zone of Santo Domingo Este. Following the events, on the afternoon of this Tuesday, security agencies will hold a meeting this Tuesday with organized motoconcho associations as part of the actions aimed at strengthening security and regulating motorcycle stops in the country in the face of the increase in violent acts involving this sector. The meeting, scheduled for 3:00 PM at the Ministry of Interior and Police, will include the participation of the Director General of the National Police, representatives of Intrant and the Ministry of Public Works with the aim of integrating motorcycle taxi drivers into the security plan and advancing the organization of stops in different areas of the national territory.