Less than two months after the installation of 16 traffic cameras throughout the Central Valley, the Roadway Safety Council (COSEVI) voted Thursday night to suspend the cameras for at least six months.
Silvia Bolaños, the director of COSEVI, told The Tico Times on Thursday afternoon that the cameras were “temporarily suspended” due to the pending legality of the fines. Bolaños said that given the amount of complaints presented to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV), COSEVI’s Board of Directors voted to suspend the use of the cameras until the court rulings were announced.
“By no means does this mean that we are aborting the use of the cameras,” Bolaños said. “Given the amount of complaints in the Sala IV, we will wait until the cases are resolved before proceeding with the use of the cameras.”
Bolaños said that the contract with the technology company Radiográfica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA), which designed the highway camera system, also called for cancellation of the program due to legality concerns.
Since all traffic fines are suspended, drivers who planned to pay them when registering their vehicles at the end of the year – a process known as the marchamo – will not have to pay the penalty. Bolaños said COSEVI will also consider returning some payments received from previous fines.
