Traffic Law

For the duration of the two-week vacation period, Traffic Police will maintain 15 roadway checkpoints throughout the country and will designate a total of 744 officers, 152 police cars and 217 motorcycles for surveillance efforts.

Article 147 of the country’s Traffic Law stipulates fines of ₡21,963 ($40) for pedestrians walking on roads or jaywalking.

The Traffic Administration is currently in the process of buying more sound level meters. Currently traffic police only have 23 of these devices for all seven provinces, but the administration hopes to at least double that number.

Horacio Alvarado, mayor of Belén, asked for drivers to be patient on Wednesday and Thursday as Traffic Police briefly block roads between Juan Santamaría International Airport and the Centro de Eventos Pedregal for five minutes at a time so that presidential motorcades can pass.

The highest traffic fine – Class A – will increase from ₡293,000 ($553) to ₡306,000 ($578), the Public Works and Transport Ministry's Traffic Department reported. Class A fines include driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with an expired license.

A total of 386 checkpoints throughout the country are part of a Traffic Police effort to prevent accidents before and during the holidays. Traffic Police Director Mario Calderón said that operations would begin this week and target the busiest roads in the Central Valley, where traffic jams usually occur while people are out doing holiday shopping.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV, this week ruled unconstitutional several articles of Costa Rica's Traffic Law that obligate motorists to register an email address in order to receive notifications of fines and other information from the Roadway Safety Council.