I travel to Santo Domingo often as my girlfriend lives there, and I often rent a car through Hertz on Ave Independencia with little problem. But look out for the police in green. They pulled me over for going through a red light, (yeah me and everybody else) Only thing was the electricity was out (for a change) and the lights weren't working. I explained I was a tourist and was lost. I showed him my map and asked for directions. Inside the map was a 100 peso note, he offered advice and told me to have a nice day. Problem solved.