Be Cautious and Pay Attention:
It has been said that if you can drive in Costa Rica, you can drive
anywhere in the world. The combination of poor road conditions,
careless or wreckless drivers and poorly functioning vehicles (no brake lights, headlights, etc) may require drivers to be more alert and patient. Whether it’s on the bus, in a tour van or your own vehicle, there
will be things that will amaze you. And make you realize exactly how
careful you need to be behind the wheel.
Although regular safety inspections are required for all vehicles, many
do not have functioning brake lights, head lights or signals, and often
drivers don’t use the signals they have that do work.
All in all, driving here requires extra vigilance. Take your eye off
the road for one minute and the penalties can be huge. There are dangerous curves, steep mountians and vehicles stopped in the middle of the
road without any warning signs.
Drivers are unusually courteous in alerting oncoming traffic that there
is a situation ahead or traffic police by flashing their head lights.
The lack of road signs and un-marked pavement contribute to
the difficulty in navigating Costa Rica. For this reason, we have taken
careful notes on our trips to help get you to your destination, without
getting lost first.
See our Detailed Driving Directions
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The Lack of Road Rules:
Even in New York City, people do not drive like they do in Costa Rica.
There are laws, but no one seems to really follow them. Red lights are
merely a suggestion, and the double yellow line, if visible, does not
keep people from driving on the other side of the road. Motorcycles
weave in and out of traffic, literally cutting in front of cars,
driving in gutters and in between lanes of traffic traveling in any
direction. There is an invisible middle lane, in between two different
directions of traffic, that’s open for business.
If you have never wanted eyes in the back
of your head, you will here. You have to keep watch from all sides of
your vehicle. In the cities, there are stop signs in addition to stop
lights as a back up traffic guide in case the power fails. Green
traffic lights blink to alert drivers that the light will turn yellow
momentarily. This is about the only modification to the traffic system
here that is an improvement.
Due to a lack of stoplights, cars are
often forced to aggressively cut into traffic in order to merge. If you want to blend in, and get anywhere, we’d
recommend adapting an aggressive, yet safe, method of driving. Make an extra effort to be polite and allow traffic to merge in
front of you or allow a car to turn across your lane of traffic.
Needless to say, driving in Costa Rica can be a challenging experience,
but you get used to it. Do not assume that other drivers will obey the
rules of the road.
A Note on the Traffic Police:
The Police Force in Costa Rica is divided into two divisions. There is
the public police force that has nothing to do with the traffic
police. Traffic police cars are blue with a yellow strip, labeled
"MOPT" “traffico” and have blue lights. If you get stopped for speeding
DO NOT pay (what seems to an American a little bit of money) to avoid
getting a ticket. The officer will often offer you this option and
pocket the money AND sometimes they will call up to the next speed trap
and tell them that the American in the such and such car was speeding
and paid me 20,000 colones. Now you're out 40,000 colones or more. If
you just take the ticket, it will cost you somewhere around $8, much
less than the $40 or more the officer wanted to pocket.
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