New San José - Caldera
Highway Could Soon Be Converted Into "Death
Road"
The new highway to Caldera may soon be
called “ruta de la muerte” (death road),
with the latest fatal accident on Thursday
that claimed the second life in less than
three weeks of the road's opening to the
public.
The new highway is different than most other
roads in Costa Rica, although the maximum
speed limit across the majority of the
highway from San José to Caldera is 80 km/h,
many sections are apt to high speeds. And
most Costa Ricans are not accustomed to
handling vehicles at high speeds.
Foreigners living and visiting Costa Rica
and who take behind the wheel also have had
difficulties driving on Costa Rican roads
and the new highway can be a death sentence
for some, as they are confused with a
highway that is similar to that in the US,
Canada and Europe, but not so much.
The case is that of Thursday's fatal
accident that killed Jake Travis, a 34 year
old American travelling from Orotina to
Santa Ana with his family.
The young man bit a concrete divider on the
approach to the Turrucares section of the
highway, hitting the abutment and flipping
his mini van. His two young children were
taken to hospital with serious injuries.
That section of the highway is two lanes
eastbound, coming off the climb from the Rio
Grande, where the road is separated by a
concrete median and lights.
The approach to the divider is clearly
marked. However, the darkness of night and
oncoming traffic can easily hide the
divider, add to that high velocity and you
have a lethal combination.
That section of the highway is apt for
speeding. As a vehicle barrels at full
throttle from the gentle climb that easily
reach speeds of 100 km/h or more, the heavy
foot can easily take a vehicle to 120, 130
and 140 km/h in seconds as the road levels
out.
This could have been the case Thursday
evening, as investigators look into speeding
as a principal cause of the crash.
The other contributing factor is the failure
of many drivers to pull to the right while
driving in two lane in the same direction
traffic.
In that particular section of the road it is
not uncommon for big trucks to continue on
the left lane and driving at slow speeds. It
is not uncommon to see these vehicles being
passed on the right, and some vehicles
crossing the median and plow right into the
concrete abutment.
Authorities, including officials of the
Autopistas del Sol (the road
concessionaire), the Policía de Tránsito and
the Ministerio de Obra Pública y Transportes
(MOPT) has taken steps to reduce traffic
speeding on the road with a high presence of
traffic officials.
But, that is only during the day. At night,
the road easily converts itself into a
landing strip with its bright cat's eyes,
brightly illuminated and unfolding a
vehicle's headlights. But, extremely
dangerous at high speeds as the road weaves
and turns by the mountain side, the concrete
dividers and plow, smack into a slow moving
vehicle, which are common. |
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