QCOSTARICA – The Traffic Police (Policia de Transito) registered, up to Monday afternoon, January 4, the seizure of license plates of 11,025 vehicles that did not have the Marchamo and/or Riteve vehicle inspection up to date.
This was announced by the director of the Road Safety Council (Cosevi), Edwin Herrera, who explained that 2,375 vehicles were also seized for violating traffic regulations, typically applied in cases of reckless driving, without a license or without the vehicle documents, as well as for bad parking, among others.
The number of seizures corresponds to the actions taken by the officers between December 23, 2020, and January 4, 2021.
In addition to the seizure of plates, driving without the Marchamo or Riteve drivers are issued a fine of ¢54,800.
Herrera clarified that the numbers are preliminary since traffic officers have three working days to transfer the seized plates to the Cosevi and enter the data of the fines issued.
In the case of the sanitary vehicle restriction, 1,025 tickets were issued between December 24 and January 3. The fine is ¢108,000 colones, but does no longer imply the removal of the license plates, nor points on the driver’s license.
Reclaiming license plates
To reclaim the license plates (or vehicle), only the registered owner of the vehicle, since license plates are attached to the vehicle, must make an appointment on the Cosevi website or mobile app.
The seized plates must be claimed at the regional headquarters where the violation took place. For example, if a driver, while vacationing outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), had the plates seized in Playa Jaco, they must go to the corresponding headquarters to retrieve the license plates.
To retrieve the plates all outstanding fines must first be paid.
In the case of seized vehicles, in addition to the fine, towing and storage charges are applied. The cost per tow is ¢7,870 for the first six kilometers and ¢1,311 for each additional kilometer from the tow site to Cosevi impound. Meanwhile, storage is ¢5,0.66 colones per day.
To appeal (“impugnar” in Spanish) a traffic ticket – fine and/or seizure – it must be made by email to the regional offices where the ticket was issued license plate and/or vehicle seized.
Following is the link to the emails and the requirements to appeal a fine within the non-extendable period of ten (10) business days, counted from the business day following the preparation of the ticket: https://www.csv.go.cr/impugnar-una-boleta-de-citacion.
