http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2017/2/8/62340/Road-carnage-1-death-every-4-hoursSanto Domingo.- In the Dominican Republic one person dies in a traffic accident every four hours, for an approximate daily rate of 5.8 deaths.
In 2016 there were 35,624 road accidents which claimed the lives of 2,122 people. This is equivalent to 176 deaths per month, 5.8 per day and approximately one death every four hours. Around 87% of fatalities were men, almost nine out of every 10 victims.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Amet) statistics show that 21 out of every 100,000 inhabitants die in road accidents.
Former AMET director and traffic specialiat, Onésimo González, says that unofficial sources put the figure at more than 4,000 per year, a much higher death toll. "The country should declare a state of emergency," said González, while expressing alarm at the fact that young people under the age of 30 were the worst affected population segment.
Another situation that is not evident from the death statistics is the impact of the road accidents.
The director of Ney Arias Lora Hospital, Amaury García, says that road accident injuries are a leading cause of long-term or permanent disabilities. “The Dominican Republic, with its economic limitations, does not have the funds to combat this ill”, stated the doctor.
