Sunday 21 September
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Only 311 Patrol
Vehicles To Cover 35.000 Kms Of Roads
Chinchilla Says Zuñiga
Decision Changes Nothing
Program Urges Drivers To
Use Child Restraints
Floating Restaurant A
Treat For Visitors Of
San Lucas
Consumption Recedes
Remittances Decelerate
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Only 311 Patrol Vehicles
To Cover 35.000 Kms Of
Roads
If you ever wondered why
it takes so long for a
Tránsito (traffic)
official to arrive at
the scene of an
accident, the answer is
simple. There are only
311 patrol vehicles
available to patrol some
35.000 kilometres of
paved and gravel roads.
The average time for a
Tránsito to appear at
the scene of an accident
is about 40 minutes, but
it can be hours in rural
areas, where there are
less officers and even
less patrol vehicles.
An example is Playa Jacó,
where there is no
Tránsito delegation in
the area and officers
have to be dispatched
from either Orotina or
Parrita to attend the
scene of an accident.
The travel time alone
from either point is 30
minutes or more.
The 365 patrol vehicles
are comprised of
sedans, pickups, tow
trucks and motorcycles.
However, according to
the latest reports by
the Policía de Tránsito,
only 311 vehicles (70
sedans, 54 pickups, 27
tow trucks and 160
motorcycles) are
actually in working
order. The other 54 or
15% of the fleet are not
in working order and
parked in the Tránsito
lots for problems with
the engines, body damage
and brakes, according to
the Policía de Tránsito
director, Germán Marín.
Making matters worse are
the lack of funds to
maintain and repair the
vehicles. Tránsito
officials have to resort
to using their own money
to make minor repairs to
the vehicles assigned to
them.
The result is that the
800 Tránsito officials
have to patrol 7.000
kilometres of national
roads, 28.000 kilometres
of local roads and
800.000 vehicles with
only 311 units that have
to cover an average of
112 kilometres of road
each.
According to figures
released by the vice-ministra
de Transportes, Viviana
Martín, each vehicle
clocks in 60.000
kilometres a year and of
the 311 units in working
order, 70 of the sedans
are older than 8 years.
In many cases the
Policía de Tránsito has
to hire out private two
trucks to remove
vehicles from the scene
of an accident or in the
case of a vehicle being
confiscated, because it
has only 27 of the
yellow tow trucks
available for such use
and the majority are
attached to the
detachments in the
Central Valley.
It is also not uncommon
for the Tránsito
officials in rural areas
to ask the Fuerza
Pública (police) to give
them a ride to the scene
of an accident, which
some cases, can only be
taken part of the way as
the police patrol
vehicle is cannot leave
its assigned area, all
adding to the wait time
for a Tránsito official
to arrive at the scene
of an accident.
In Costa Rica, vehicles
involved in accident,
unless the parties can
come to a mutual
arrangement, cannot be
moved until a Tránsito
official is on the
scene. The Tránsito
report is a crucial item
in a claim to the state
insurance company, the
INS. The parties
involved in a traffic
accident can call the
INS and request an
inspector at the scene,
however, can make a
claim within five
working days of the
accident as long as
there is a Tránsito
report of the accident.
Currently there are only
23 Tránsito detachments
in the country, some are
enormous distances
between them. For
instance, in Golfito,
Puntarenas, the local
detachment has to cover
the areas of Corredores,
Osa and Coto Brus, that
is more an hour away.
The only other Tránsito
detachment in the area
is or was near the
Panama border since it
was closed due to lack
of maintenance.
The ministero de Obras
Públicas y Transportes
says it will be
investing some ¢123
million colones in 2009
to upkeep the
detachments, not even
close to what Tránsito
officials say is needed.
Ministra Martín claims
that Tránsito must
define its priorities
and "that the most
important is to save
lives".
For Transportes minister
the approval of the
reforms to the Ley de
Tránsito which sharply
increases fines and
revenue for the
ministry, is a salvation
to the cash strapped
ministry. However, the
reform bill has been
stalled in the
Legislature for the past
two years.
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"Wagner" is one of the 800
Tránsito officials in Costa Rica. Assigned to the San
José airport, Wagner told ICR that in many cases he has
had to put his hands into his pockets to repair and
maintain one of the 160 "working" motorcycles used by
the Policía de Tránsito. |
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