Drunk Drivers Left On Foot, As Tránsito Curbs Drinking and Driving At Palmares
Every January Palmares has gone party mode and that has meant plenty of drinking, partying and then driving home. And this year is no exception as the Palmares Festival kicked off on Thursday with the traditional Tope, the horse parade.

However, this year, the Policía de Tránsito (traffic police) has promised to crack down on drinking and driving and have mounted an extensive campaign that includes random spot checks, breathalyzers and screwdrivers to remove license plates from cars being driven by those over the alcohol limit.

In the first day of the festival, Tránsito officials left on foot 24 drivers who had had just a little too much "guaro" and/or "birra". Those drivers, like many more to come, have yet to get the meaning of "si toma, no maneje" - don't drink and drive.

In the cases where a driver is pulled of the road for being over the limit, the license plates are removed from the vehicle and in addition to paying the fine for being over the limit, will have to pay the costs of recovering the plates and the two charges for removal of the vehicle from the public road.

Tránsito reports that the first drunken driver was pulled off the road at 10:00pm at the control post at Naranjo, a few metres south of the toll booths. Control posts, spot checks and patrols are present on every route to and from Palmares, concentrating mainly on the San José routes, which see the heaviest traffic. The other high traffic route is Palmares - San Ramón.

The worst case Thursday night is that of a driver who registered 2.36 on the breathalyzer and the case of a woman who blew 1.89. The legal limit in Costa Rica is 0.49.

According to German Marín, director of Tránsito, he is pleased with the results of Thursday night. Marín said that the first day of the festival is always the worst. This year a total of 24 vehicles were taken off the road, 19 licenses suspended, 237 traffic tickets issued and most important, zero accidents. The Tránsito officials added that those numbers are in contrast to the previous years when between 50 and 60 vehicles are confiscated during the first day of the festival.

Marín said that the reduction is partly due to the "chofer designado" (designated driver) program and the urging through a media campaign that partygoers hire a minivan to get to and from the festival.