Driving Laws in Costa Rica
New transit or driving laws are about to pass this September 23rd. As usual the government of Costa Rica is rushing around trying to piece together all of the last minute changes before the deadline.
A couple of the changes that are coming about are the following:
- All children 12 and under MUST be in a car seat
- All vehicles MUST have a first aid kit
There is much controversy on just these two items. The first being that most families cannot afford car seats for their smaller children nor do they have room in their car for one car seat let alone car seats for the older children. If you have not been to Costa Rica to see how families pack 5 or 6 small children into the back seat of a car you cannot fully appreciate this statement.
The second concern is the first aid kit contains liquids that go bad if the temperature exceeds 85 degrees. Again, if you have been to Costa Rica, you understand that this is the case most days so the first aid salves don’t do you much good.
Then there is the issue of the fines…. I have not actually seen the breakdown of the fees but from preliminary reports and what I have seen so far, it is not looking good for the average Costa Rica family. The fines are higher than what some will make in a week and more than what many will be able to pay.
I hope that in this case the people will not lose.