Costa Rica News – We are getting to the time of year where people are on holidays and many will be drinking to celebrate the various holidays that occur at the end of the year. As we turn from 2014 to 2015 the fines for moving violations will be changing.
Personally knowing someone who was killed by a drunk driver, my view on drunk driving is that those who do so should spend quite a bit of time in jail. Costa Rica’s view is not as harsh but has recently gotten more stringent with the penalties for such behavior.
Drivers caught driving while intoxicated will face a ¢306,000 fine starting January 1st.
Speeding and making illegal U-turns have this same fine.
All traffic fines, in each of the five severity levels, are going up by 4.95%.
The most minor offenses like not wearing a seatbelt will carry a penalty of ¢20,000 to ¢22,000.
The increase in fees across the board is based on the annual price index, keeping fees in line with purchasing power.
This year the road deaths by the second week of November were 297. In all of 2013 there were 292 registered road deaths.
There is hope that these more severe punishments will cut down on the number of road deaths in 2015 as well as raise reduce the number of people breaking these laws.
