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Ley de tránsito – Results Day One
March 2nd, 2010
Typical of Costa Rica, news reports differ as to how went day one following implementation of the new ley de tránsito (traffic laws). One English language online stated that more than 300 fines were handed out in San José alone. This was kinda amazing as the transit officers union stated in pretty clear terms that their membership would not be handing out tickets except for violations that could be dangerous to other drivers.
I normally only read La Nacion or some other Spanish language newspapers as they tend to get it right… and as I suspected, the information reported was not quite accurate. The actual number of tickets was far less. By 4 PM yesterday, 218 tickets had been handed out nationwide.
These tickets were for:
Using mobile phones without a hands free device or failure to use seat belts. (¢ 220,050 or $400.00) (Yeah!!)
Driving in San José in violation of vehicle plate restrictions (¢ 29,340 – $53.00)
Driving with polarized (darkened) rear window (¢ 117,360 – $213.00) and finally,
two people who were caught driving without a driver’s license (¢ 293,400 – $533.00 ) and whose cars were impounded on the spot. Wow!
Also, La Nacion staffers apparently did a bit of reconnoitering around the country and found that many transit officials had apparently not even been on duty, prompting the response “Promise Fulfilled” by Joselito Ureña, secretary of the Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionales en Tránsito the transit officers union. Interestingly…. Those officers did give out tickets were officers who were working directly under the supervision of Marin Germain, transit director aka the big cheese. Guess that confirms who is the real boss.
So the verdict? None of the big cheeses (transit bosses nor the diputados) are thrilled about the officers not obeying orders and handing out those tickets… still it would be wise to keep your foot under control, not talk on your cell phone, use your seat belts and generally be good little boys and girls!
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Law, Costa Rica Tourism, Driving in Costa Rica, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica | Comments (5)Cops Won’t Enforce New Transit Law
February 28th, 2010
I have been waiting patiently for many months for someone in the government of Costa Rica (ummm – that would be the diputados), to realize just how idiotic is the new ley de tránsito (traffic law) that goes into effect tomorrow, March 1, 2010.
In fact I have re-written this post about 3 times, the last time being Friday when they decided not to enforce some laws requiring everyone carry fire extinguishers, those reflective triangle thingies, and a couple of other items (like child seats) that they probably should have left in! I was running out of time… but my guardian angel told me to wait until Sunday…
So I did wait, only to learn last night that the least likely group of all (that would be the transit police officers union) voted overwhelmingly to not enforce the new laws, but will enforce really tough drunk driving laws and those regarding reckless driving! Sadly, those are the laws the courts are ignoring with only eleven convictions in over a year. I am thinking now that the police officers (that would be the group with the brains) should perhaps trade places with the diputados!
Interested? Read on!
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Law, Drivers License Costa Rica, Driving in Costa Rica, Expatriate Life, Tourism, Travel, Travel to Costa Rica | Comments (19)