QCOSTARICA – Reckless driving is the main cause of fatal road accidents in Costa Rica says the director of the Policia de Transito (Traffic Police), Mario Calderon.
The police chief says that drivers have lost their fear of death, and thus leads to casualties on the roads.
According to Calderon, speeding and illegal passing of vehicles (is crossing the double line and passing on curves) leads to many fatal accidents.
So far this year, 135 people have lost their lives in traffic accidents. Motorcyclists are the leaders in staining the streets with blood, with 62 deaths – almost half of all road fatalities. Also, 24 pedestrians and 14 cyclists have been victims of traffic accidents.
More police action is needed.
Calderon assures the traffic police has daily operations to detect speeding and picking off drivers under the influence of alcohol.
But perhaps it is not so much the loss of fear of death, but the lack of enough traffic police officials on the roads to enforce the law.
And many drivers know that.
For example, typical traffic police operations at night are only to attend to emergencies. Rare are traffic police patrols at night, and never a radar unit in operation.
Would you stop if someone on the side of the road, in the dead of night, is pointing something at you, like a hand radar gun? And besides, the traffic police in Costa Rica use the photo radar units, set on a tripod that takes a phot of the driver.
Photos from Accidentes de CostaRica Facebook page.
Use the comment section below to express your opinion.
Rico, did you interview Director Calderon for this story? You bring up very valid points about the need for more police and more police action, but it doesn’t appear that he responded at all to those particular points.