"Hit and Run" A Constitutional Right
A worrisome epidemic is concerning Tránsito officials and has renewed calls for harsher penalties involving traffic violations, especially when it comes to accidents, as only two out of every ten drivers involved in accidents remain at the scene.

The "Ley de Tránsito" (traffic law) does not punish drivers who flee the scene of the accident, leaving a driver involved in an accident, including a fatal accident, free to decide to abandon the scene and leave the task to Tránsito (traffic) officials to collect evidence and witness accounts to find the driver.

The majority of traffic deaths currently are a result of  pedestrians being hit or run over by a vehicle, a fact that is evidenced on all major roads around the country with the painting of "halo heart" on the spot of the scene where a person has died from being hit by a vehicle.

The latest hit and run accident occurred yesterday when a homeless man decided to cross the busy and heavily travelled circunvalación (ring road on the south side of San José) at the Quesada Durán pass when a vehicle hit him and the driver fled the scene.

Statistics by the Dirección de Tránsito reveal that only 20% of the drivers involved in an accident remain on the scene waiting for the authorities.

The reforms of the Ley de Tránsito of 1993, Article 129, paragraph b, clearly states the actions of a Tránsito official and punishment in the event a driver flees the scene of an accident.

Notwithstanding, a "recurso de amparo" (appeal) to the Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) or Sala IV as it is often referred to, declared the article unconstitutional seven months after it came into effect.

The court's decision leaves Tránsito authorities powerless to punish drivers fleeing the scene of an accident, leaving victims totally unprotected.

The current Transportes minister, Karla González, announced several months ago reforms to the 1993 law that pretends to increase fines for traffic violations, especially in the cases of driving under the influence and speeding, two major causes of traffic accidents, but does not touch on the hit and run provisions.