Costa Ricans are terrible drivers, and they know it. Pretty much every day in this country of 4.5 million, I can open the newspaper and read about someone dying somewhere on the roads: Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, head-on collisions, drunk drivers, people driving off cliffs.
I have no idea if it’s a statistically significant number of traffic deaths, but it feels like a massacre.
Like I said, the Ticos know this, so a few years ago the media went on a campaign to get the government to crack down, outlaw drunk driving, and generally pass a law to get Costa Ricans to stop killing each other on the roads. This was a good idea.
What was not a good idea, however, was the actual law that got passed, which sets first-world traffic regulations for third-world driving conditions while doing almost nothing to improve enforcement. Now we have ridiculously huge fines (US$400 for running a stop sign, in a country where that’s how much a cop makes in month) and comically specific regulations (wait, why am I required to have aspirin in my car again?).
In the case of pedestrians, the fine … for crossing the street without respecting traffic signals, not using sidewalks, or passing in front or behind of a vehicle whose motor was running… is ¢58,680 (US$110).
Basically, this makes it illegal to walk, pretty much anywhere, as there are often no sidewalks, definitely no traffic signals, and as a result, no place to cross without wading into traffic.
Other than just pissing me off, the serious implication of this law is that it disenfranchises the poor. The reason you occasionally see whole families scuttling across highways and pulling other crazy-dangerous traffic stunts is because there is literally no other way to get from Point A to Point B. These people can’t afford cars, they can’t afford to live on the right side of the highway, and they sure as hell can’t afford a US$110 fine for doing what they have to do to survive.
The Legislature is working on an amendment to cut the fines down by as much as 60%, but that amendment will also gut the few enforcement initiatives the law does contain, like the point system for licenses.
It’s like three steps sideways and one step backward, which sounds like a children’s game, but is actually the lawmaking process in Costa Rica.
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]
The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]
From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]
Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]
This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.
The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]
Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]
The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]
From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]
Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]
The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]
Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]
Wrong way
Chaos: Typical.
Costa Ricans are terrible drivers, and they know it. Pretty much every day in this country of 4.5 million, I can open the newspaper and read about someone dying somewhere on the roads: Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, head-on collisions, drunk drivers, people driving off cliffs.
I have no idea if it’s a statistically significant number of traffic deaths, but it feels like a massacre.
Like I said, the Ticos know this, so a few years ago the media went on a campaign to get the government to crack down, outlaw drunk driving, and generally pass a law to get Costa Ricans to stop killing each other on the roads. This was a good idea.
What was not a good idea, however, was the actual law that got passed, which sets first-world traffic regulations for third-world driving conditions while doing almost nothing to improve enforcement. Now we have ridiculously huge fines (US$400 for running a stop sign, in a country where that’s how much a cop makes in month) and comically specific regulations (wait, why am I required to have aspirin in my car again?).
A perfect illustration of the stupidity currently in force is the jaywalking part of the law. Reports La Nación on the government’s glorious efforts at enforcing the new traffic law:
Basically, this makes it illegal to walk, pretty much anywhere, as there are often no sidewalks, definitely no traffic signals, and as a result, no place to cross without wading into traffic.
Other than just pissing me off, the serious implication of this law is that it disenfranchises the poor. The reason you occasionally see whole families scuttling across highways and pulling other crazy-dangerous traffic stunts is because there is literally no other way to get from Point A to Point B. These people can’t afford cars, they can’t afford to live on the right side of the highway, and they sure as hell can’t afford a US$110 fine for doing what they have to do to survive.
The Legislature is working on an amendment to cut the fines down by as much as 60%, but that amendment will also gut the few enforcement initiatives the law does contain, like the point system for licenses.
It’s like three steps sideways and one step backward, which sounds like a children’s game, but is actually the lawmaking process in Costa Rica.
(Original image courtesy ahrenw.)
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