Changes To Traffic Fines To Be Retroactive
Although we are not urging any of the 4.000
or more drivers who have received a traffic
fine in the past five weeks not to pay up,
just that they be aware that the amendments
to the Ley de Tránsito traffic fines being
discussed by legislators will be retroactive
to March 1, 2010.
What this means is that a traffic fine of
¢220.000 talking on a cellular phone while
driving will drop to ¢147.000 once
legislators approve the changes.
For those who paid the high fine they will
be able to make a claim for the difference,
based on Costa Rica's Constitutción Política
(Constititution), which gives drivers the
right to lower fines if the reforms are
passed.
Those changes being discussed by legislators
will drop the current traffic fines up to
66%.
Grethel Ortiz, legislator for the Partido
Acción Cuidadana (PAC) explained that it is
a constitutional right of a citizen to be
awarded the benefit of an advantage in a
law. In this case, a driver already fined
has the constitutional right to take
advantage of the retroactive benefit of the
lower fine once the reforms to the law take
effect.
Although the current legislative body has
only until May 1 to clear its agenda, the
reforms to the Ley de Tránsito that reduces
fines and removes the point system, among
other items, there is confidence that the
reforms will be passed before the break,
otherwise the proposal would be left up to
the next group of legislators who take
charge on May 8.
However, the confidence of passage of the
reforms before May 1 lessens with each
passing day, as the current legislators
cannot agree on a number of major items,
including the possibility of including more
changes.
If the reforms are not passed by the May 1
deadline, a delay of months is expected, as
new legislators may want to go back to the
drawing board before discussion and voting
on the reforms and/or may have changes of
their own.
One of the major stumbling blocks is the
opposition parties lowering the drunk
driving limit to 0.50 from the current 0.75.
The Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) -
ruling party - fears that by opening
discussion to the issue will open the floor
to more motions and changes and for which
there is no sufficient time to deal with
properly.
The current traffic law says that a driver
found with a blood alcohol content of
between 0.50 and 0.74, a state of "pre-ebriedad"
(pre-drunk), is subject to a fine
(¢293.400), loss of points and confiscation
of the vehicle. However, a driver with 0.75
or greater will face criminal charges and a
prison sentences if convicted. The
opposition want to eliminate the "pre-ebriedad".
The effect on drivers driving with an
expired license, for instance, would be a
fine of ¢30.000 under the reforms from the
current ¢88.000; driving without a license
(license left at home) would be ¢20.000
instead of ¢59.000; violating the vehicular
restrictions of San José, ¢9.000 instead of
¢29.000; the fine for not using a seatbelt
or talking on a cellular phone would be
¢147.000, instead of ¢220.000; and, not
buckling in children in a child restraint
seat, driving over 120 km/h or pre-drunk
would cost the violator ¢196.00 instead of
¢293.000.
In all cases, the reforms would eliminate
the point system, so drivers could continue
to re-offend at will by simply paying the
fine and never lose their drivers license,
among other changes that include removing
the "criminal" sanction for drunk drivers
who do not cause material or personal injury
or death if caught driving under the
influence.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure,
before March 1, 2010, there were 400.000
drivers with an expired license. During the
first week in March thousands renewed their
license, standing in line for hours on end,
while others getting their vehicles up to
date with the vehicular inspection and
paying the Marchamo, all heavily sanctioned.
But, once the news broke that legislators
were contemplating changes, the lines ended
and still some 350.000 drivers have yet to
renew their license. Figures on Riteve
inspections and Marchamo payments have yet
to be released. |
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