Motorcycles, a ‘plague’ in Dominican Republic’s streets

Santo Domingo.- Of every 100 street robberies in thecountry, 80 are done from motorcycles, a practice that has been on the rise inrecent months, so much so that people have become afraid to be on the streets dayor night.

The figures are from international studies in LatinAmerica, and local media reports provided by the National Police, which notesthat 54% of Dominican Republic’s registered vehicles are motorcycles, at aroundtwo million, in addition to an unspecified number without documents.

The use of motorcycles in Latin America to commit a crimehas risen, while Dominican Republic figures among the nations with the highest numbers,a situation described as "the plague afflicting humans in thestreets."

The magnitude of the problem is revealed by the authoritiesthemselves, when Internal Taxes notes that there were around 600,000unregistered motorcycles in the country in 2014.

The National Police on Tuesday said the high number ofmotorcycles on the streets that lack registration hinder investigations thatcan lead authorities to identify those who use them to commit burglaries,robberies and murders.