Traffic cameras to resume surveillance in February

Authorities from the Roadway Safety Council (COSEVI) are waiting for a technical report and approval by the board of directors to restart the use of traffic cameras in February.

Cameras will be operated by the Public Works and Transport Ministry and the state-owned telecommunications company Radiográfica Costarricense S.A., which reported in a press release that they have everything ready to start the system.

The project will resume at 20 monitoring points in the Circunvalación (a belt route around the capital San José), at schools in San José, on the General Cañas highway – which connects the capital with the province of Alajuela – Route 27 (San José-Puntarenas), Route 32 (San José-Limón) and the Inter-American Highway South.

Last November, less than two months after the installation of the first 16 cameras, COSEVI suspended the system “due to the amount of complaints presented to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court [Sala IV],” COSEVI Director Silvia Bolaños said at the time.

The Sala IV reduced the amount of the fines approved in October by the new Traffic Law, saying the penalties were disproportionately high. The maximum fine was changed from ₡468,780 ($937) to ₡280,000 ($560) for drivers caught exceeding 120 kilometers per hour.

Cameras also will be used to communicate with police to locate suspected criminals.