Motorists face stiffer penalties as road carnage rages

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Thursdaysaid prosecutors have been instructed to seek incarceration of drivers whocause traffic accidents under the influence of alcohol or speeding, where there’sone or more people injured or dead.

He said the same measure will be sought for motorists withno car insurance at the time of the accident, those with no driver license orabandon their victim without justification, recklessly driving a heavy vehicleor racing.

He said the plan’s main goal is to make the population awareof the need to reduce risks that can cause accidents, to avert lamentationsover the country’s notorious road carnage.

Dominguez said the instructions are clear and precise,"they have a single goal, which is to save lives, prevent trafficaccidents from the aforementioned causes."

"This should be handled responsibly and acting instrict compliance with the provisions of transit Law 241," he said, addingthat his department has various support programs of institutions and companies,to prevent and reduce the number of deaths and injuries.

Speaking at the Justice Ministry together with Dominguez, SupremeCourt chief justice Mariano German also called to amend transit Law, with moredrastic penalties for violators.

Dominican Republicis the Hemisphere’s leader and second in the world in traffic accident fatalities,with 29.3 per 100,000 inhabitants.