COSTA RICA NEWS — Traffic accidents are major cause of traffic congestion, especially in the heavily transited roads of San José and surrounding area. Fender benders are the worst, in the sense they block roads for long periods of time while the drivers wait for the Policia de Tránsito (traffic police) before moving the vehicles involved.
Under the current rules of the road, vehicles involved in an accident should not be moved until a Tránsito (traffic) official has arrived at the scene of the accident and insurance agents are present.
An initiative by Movimiento Libertario legislator, Otto Guevara, would allow drivers to move their vehicles immediately and eliminate the need to wait for a Tránsito.
Guevara said his initiative would place the burden on insurance companies to resolve the dispute or the civil courts in the case of an uninsured driver(s).
The legislator said he is collecting data to determine the number of traffic accidents that are processed in the Traffic Courts and the cost to the country.
Guevara added that he is in conversation with the insurance companies to explain how the system works in other countries.
“This will mean more people will have to ensure their vehicles. Collisions if one of the drivers is uninsured will be resolved in civil court,” said Guevara.
The director of the Policia de Transito, Mario Calderón, said he is not familiar with the legislator’s proposal.
Calderón admitted that more often than not drivers are fed up waiting for a traffic official to arrive at the scene of an accident, no matter how minor, before they can move their vehicles.
SourceL Amelia Rueda
