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COSTA RICA |
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Emergency Vehicles Must Stop To Fill Out
Form At Escazú Toll Booths
Emergency response units of the Policía de
Tránsito, Cruz Roja, Bomberos and Fuerza
Pública are complaning on the time it takes
them to get through the Escazú toll booths
on the San José - Caldera highway.
The road concessionaire, Autopistas del Sol,
has agreed to allow emergency vehicles to
pass through the tolls at no cost. However,
therein lies the problem, the driver of the
vehicle responding to an emergency has to
stop to fill out a form, describing the
emergency.
In the past, before the agreement between
Autopistas del Sol and the Ministerio de
Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) ,
emergency vehicles were required to pay the
tolls to cross.
Arnoldo Alpizar of the Cruz Roja explained
that when the units are not responding to an
emergency , the drivers fill out he forms as
required and no problem. However, in the
event of an emergency the situation is
totally different.
Alpizar explains that there is no way the
toll booth operator knowing the extent of
the emergency and the calling ahead
procedure, to advise the toll booth
management of the emergency doesn't work
either, as the calls go unanswered and/or
there is little time to make the advisory.
The form requirement is not just limited to
the Cruz Roja, but as well to the Policia de
Tránsito (traffic police) who patrol the
highway, the Fuerza Pública (police) who are
vigilant of crime on the highway and the
Bomberos (fire fighters).
It is comical to watch two Tránsito
officials with their lights and sirens
blazing stopping at the toll booth to fill
out a form, as was the case Friday afternoon
captured by the cameras of the Telenoticias
news crew as the officers were on their way
to attend a traffic accident at the
Circunvalación, about 800 metres east of the
toll booths.
The video clearly shows each of the two
officials get off their motorcycles to fill
out the form, which has to be done on an
individual basis, to pass through the toll
without having to pay the ¢320 colones
(us$0.55 at today's exchange rate).
The law is clear, emergency vehicles
responding to an emergency have the right to
cross tolls without charge. And that is
confirmed in the written agreement between
the concessionaire and transportation
officials.
However, the reality is, as the officer
interviewed on camera explains, to respond
quickly to an emergency it is best to pay
the toll and not waste precious time filling
out a form.
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