Costa Rican Drivers
Rack Up ˘200 Million Colones In Fines In
First Five Days Of New Traffic Law
The new traffic law, the Ley de Tránsito,
went into effect only five days ago and in
those first fivr days a total of 2.225
drivers are having to pay fines of up to
˘200 million colones collectively, for an
average of ˘90.000 colones each.
This is not only a hard to the pocket books
for Costa Rican drivers who are used to
fines not exceeding ˘20.000, and that only
for serious offences, but a great boom for
the country's coffers as the Ministerio de
Hacienda (Revenue Ministry) has been
scrambling to find new sources of income.
In a recent editorial cartoon from the daily
print newspaper, La Republica, Hacienda
minister is seen jumping in the air with
joy, with the caption saying "why do we need
tax reforms when we now have the ley de
tránsito".
All in all, drivers will continue to commit
driving offences. That will not change. What
has changed is the amount of each offence.
As simple ˘5.000 colones fine for not
wearing a seatbelt now costs more than 20
times that. Not stopping at a red light,
stop sign or speeding can now cost a few
hundred thousand colones, for each offence,
rather than the old fine of ˘20.000 colones.
Just this past week one driver is facing
more than ˘800.000 colones (us$1.400) in
fines for multiple tickets during a routine
traffic stop check. The driver did not have
is drivers license on hand and the vehicle
did not count with the 2010 Marchamo or
Riteve inspection. In addition, vehicle's
license plates were confiscated.
In the days prior to March 1, when the new
traffic law took effect, a driver in such a
situation would more than likely receive one
ticket instead of three, the maximum of
˘20.000 and probably would be allowed to get
on his way home. Confiscation of license
plates was usually reserved for more serious
offences like drunk driving or racing.
What surprises many is that, even though
Costa Ricans have had more than a year of
being told that the traffic fines were going
up, many has still to get it.
The law was first introduced in December
2008, when only the drunk driving and
reckless driving provisions were being
enforced. The remainder of the law was to go
into effect on September 2009, but postponed
to March 1, 2010, allowing time for
legislators to make amendments, which are
still in the process.
So, there is no excuse, as many drivers
caught on television cameras say they were
not aware of the new fines.
According to the Dirección General de
Tránsito only a small number of drivers,
they report 10, have been issued multiple
fines adding up to in excess of ˘500.000
colones.
Although legislators are busy at work with
amendments that has already seen the removal
of the point system, the amount the fines
could be also reduced by as much as 40%
across the board.
Even with such a reduction, drivers in Costa
Rica have to come to grips that they have to
adopt new driving habits, carry their
license with them and the vehicle's
registration or face tough economic
sanctions that have never been seen in Costa
Rica before.
Many say that well "I will keep the car
home" if I can't pay the fines. True. But
the new law also provides for interest of 3%
and court costs to accumulate after 30 days
of an outstanding balance. And the entire
amount (fine and surcharges) must be paid up
to renew a drivers license or get any
official document from the Cosevi.
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