Live the same

While all this was happening, a friend of ours contacted us. He said that his car's engine had burned out, so he had towed it to some safe parking and was now on his way to us. By the time we were done, it was already dark, and we still had to get back to Bavaro. The last bus had left long ago, and a taxi ride that distance would have cost as much as an airplane wing. Spending the night in the city was not an option, because everyone had to go to work in the morning.

We started calling everyone we knew who had a car, but everyone turned us down. Only one guy agreed - he had just bought a brand new Hyundai Veloster and wanted to take it for a spin. There was one catch! When we called him, he was at a party... and already drunk.

There were no laws against drunk driving in the Dominicana back then. What?! Seriously - you could legally drive drunk! Talking on the phone while driving? Illegal. But drunk driving? Totally normal. He assured us he had only had a little and was already on his way to pick us up 😅

Yes, you could drink and drive in the Dominican Republic until 2018. Technically, it was illegal to drink and drive, as was talking on the phone... The idea wasn't that you didn't have to be sober, it was that your hands should be free. 😅 They were constantly fining people for not wearing seat belts or using phones while driving.

Honestly, in the 4+ years I lived there, I only saw two drunk Dominicans - and not even while driving, but in general. They don't have serious problems with alcohol or smoking, people just don't consume that much. But when more expats started coming here, things changed. There were more drunk driving accidents involving tourists and foreigners.

The last straw was a Russian tourist who got drunk, stuck her naked body out of the window of a moving car with a bottle of alcohol, and was decapitated with a pole. 😳 Her friend filmed the whole thing, and the video went viral on the Internet.

Glad they finally passed this law, but they should have done it sooner...

You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. 
- C. S. Lewis

I didn't understand what you were talking about)

My internet is virus free, good thing I didn't see that 😬