Beware of Puentes
en Mal Estado...
The "Puente en Mal
Estado" (bad bridge)
sign posted around the
country should be taken
seriously, as the old
problem of bridges in
bad state of repair,
many missing guardrails
due to theft and lack of
maintenance, continue to
rack up deaths.
The last case is of a
mother and her three
children whose car went
off a bridge into a
river in Guanacaste.
Slippery road conditions
and incliment weather
contribute to these
types of road accidents,
however, in fact, they
have one common
denominator: bad
bridges.
Last Monday, Kimberly
Lawry lost control of
her vehicle and with her
three children aged 3, 7
and 9, her car went off
the bridge over the En
Pinilla river, a bridge
that, like many, had no
guardrails.
The four are in hospital
recovering.
Many such accidents have
occurred around the
country. In August 2006
when the driver was
killed and four injured
when the vehicle fell 10
metres off a bridge,
again due to lack of
guardrails.
In January of this year,
three people lost their
lives when the vehicle
lost control over the a
small bridge in Parrita,
plunging to the river
below.
The Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
- public works and
transport ministry - is
aware of the constant
problem and has been
able to curb the theft
of the guardrails and
other traffic signs.
Theives remove
guardrails and traffic
signs to be sold as
scrap metal and on one
seems to be moving
forward to repair the
bridges. |
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