A man walks down one of the streets of the Dominican RepublicARCHIVO LD
Far from the false belief of “he is not crazy to crash me,” as a pedestrian, you have specific regulations and prohibitions once you are on the public road; this is to ensure road safety and accessible transit.
According to Law 63-17 of Mobility and Transportation of the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant), which regulates land transportation, in Article 218, there are a series of at least four regulations and other additional provisions contained in Article 219 of the regulation, regarding the rules that pedestrians must comply with.
Incurring violating any of the indications established by Intrant could translate into a sanction of paying a minimum wage for the pedestrian.
And although it may seem something impossible, from 2019 to May of this year, at least 11,001 Dominicans have been audited for the commission of infractions categorized as “Circulation of Pedestrians (Art.- 218 and 219)” by the General Directorate of Security, Transit and Land Transportation (Digesett).
According to the report collected by Digesett on its “Open Data” portal, the year with the most infractions of any of the sections containing the articles above was 2019, with 5,677 fines, followed by 2023, which in only five months has accumulated 3,206 imprudences committed by pedestrians.
2022 continues the list with at least 1,233 fines, followed by 2021 with 646 infractions, ending with 2020, the year with the least recklessness on the part of pedestrians with only 419.
Regulations
The first regulation in section 218 is that pedestrians are obliged to yield to emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, fire trucks, and police, once they are warned of their passing with the sound of their sirens.
In the case of passing through an intersection that lacks a crosswalk, delimited by white lines on the roadway or a pedestrian bridge, pedestrians are under the obligation to yield free passage to vehicles and cross only “perpendicularly,” that is, in a straight line; In contrast, in those roads with a crosswalk and a traffic light regulates the intersection, the crossing may only be made when it is green in their favor.
“Between consecutive intersections, any of which is controlled by traffic lights, shall cross only at the crosswalks marked on the pavement” is the regulation that continues in the list.
The law is strict in establishing that pedestrians are under the obligation to follow the signals indicated by a Digesett agent, not being able to cross the roadway until they are allowed to do so, and in case there is a bridge or crosswalk, the crossing from one street to another, must be through such structures.
Article 219 continues with a series of restrictions from which the pedestrian is restricted from committing actions in the streets and avenues since they could violate his physical integrity and congest vehicular traffic.
“Obtaining transportation in public service vehicles” tops the list of at least seven prohibitions, followed by “soliciting transportation or the custody of motor vehicles parked or to be parked.”
Also prohibited on the road are: collecting of any kind, distributing propaganda of any kind, i.e., political, religious, or other category, and selling or offering products.
It is forbidden to lie or sit on the pavement, as well as “to walk on the sidewalks or roads with packages, furniture or other objects larger than the size established by regulation and that hinder the circulation of other pedestrians.”