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February 6th, 2011 |

Costa Rica driving in the mountains

I have taken to the roads of Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, USA, Australia, Indonesia and India.

While driving in Indonesia was just terrible, the experience of driving in traffic to India has left a lasting impression on my nervous system.

Well, the intensity of driving in India, pales in comparison to driving in Costa Rica.

Driving on roads in Costa Rica is like playing roulette Russian. Is that the next bend in the road loaded? Never know what you will suddenly come around the next corner.

Just do not know what to expect because there is simply no culture of driving here. It is as if the country as a whole has moved in a decade since the travel of horses and bullock carts to travel motor. There is a set of mutually understood rules about how to behave on the roads.

Instead, they face a kind of Jekyll and Hyde situation as normally polite and friendly Ticos (Costa Ricans) become arrogant male monsters when driving.

Once seated in a vehicle apparently the average driver in any way you cut all contact with the outside world, being totally immersed in his own movie. This means that virtually no awareness of what that other vehicles are doing and how they are moving. Consequently movements can be sudden and unpredictable – usually caused my adrenal glands to inject a massive discharge of adrenaline in the blood.

Classic maneuvers shown then turn right, turn left, stopping on the way chat with someone while the traffic builds up behind, oblivious to what is happening behind, take shortcuts when you turn on the road, apparently unable to handle clean 90-degree turn, or just go directly into the traffic lane without prior indication at all. Another popular move is to get out without checking the traffic.

If the driver placed before his emergency flashers, watch out! Tico This is the communication that was about to do, well, almost nothing at all, and have been duly warned. Today, fully expecting anything bad that happens as a result of its action to be his fault, because they have made proper diligence put emergency lights on.

Recently, while approaching an exit ramp of a freeway with three lanes, put the car in front lights intermittent and stopped at the simple. Since it was trying to leave behind him, we had to stop short and sits there with cars approaching from behind at high speed. The driver seemed very relaxed and comfortable with the driving behavior, looking both puzzled and annoyed by our horns.

Potholes and road hazards

Potholes are everywhere, some so deep that they will break your axle. They can appear suddenly in unexpected places. Missing manhole covers abound.

Only local aid in the marking of these places of danger. Some local care person sticking a branch of a shrub in the hole to mark it, sometimes covered with a plastic bag to catch your attention. That's about all the help we receive, so you can not let your attention be diverted from the road.

Pedestrians

Pedestrians are often in great danger, but does not seem to recognize it. Drivers were given low consideration, even in the marked crosswalks.

The exception to this general rule occurs sometimes when a driver sees a pretty girl waiting to cross the street, suddenly and unexpectedly stops completely (causing a chain reaction of frantic braking and backing up traffic behind), and a generous gesture of the hand waves lucky recipient through the road.

Such spontaneous expressions of courtly manners courtesy physical configurations accidents, but the driver gets to feel like a true gentleman, and that's what counts, right?

In the mountains are not as deep troughs of V on both sides of the road (to channel torrential rain) and almost never have a sidewalk for pedestrians, so I really have no choice but to walk on the road.

The strange thing is that the pedestrians themselves seem to have no concept of danger they face. They are totally indifferent to the sight of heavy steel boxes go to the 8 meters per second jet a few inches from your body.

Pedestrians tend to keep walking 3 and 4 a day in apparent indifference to the opposite view of traffic, or nerves of steel or of imagination.

Women sometimes walk with their children on the traffic side of the road, against the instinct to protect normal to protect the child. This kind of thing that tells me clearly that people should be taught safe road behavior, does not seem natural.

In Costa Rica's criminal code there is apparently no such thing as vehicular homicide, but (amazingly), if an event occurs twice a driver, your license may be worn for 10 years!

Under the Tico Times (July 20, 2007) an average of 600 deaths occur annually due to traffic accidents.

The document also mentions that in 2005, Costa Rica ranked first in the Americas and fourth in the world in per capita traffic injuries.

Deaths are often commemorated in what happened, painted on the road with a big heart with a halo above yellow. Often there are groups of these in the main four-lane highways where pedestrians, in the absence of an overpass, the attempt to cross the street daily.

The majority of road deaths happen for drunk driving. We have seen the behavior incredible drunk driving home at night from the main city of San Jose. And there is much to control the traffic police (the "Traffic"). Therefore, try to limit our driving to date as much as possible, and avoid late Friday and Saturday, total driving.

There are approximately one million cars in Costa Rica. Not all are insured or registered yet. Many simply do not pass the annual roadworthiness test for vehicles so the owners just do not bother with it.

No actually not driver's education of general application, the roads are in poor condition the police seem to be closer to the bribery of execution. On mountain roads there are no passing lanes, which in the long lines of a variety of cars, trucks and motorcycles trailing slow moving bus.

Crossing two yellow lines to advance is the norm, and you have to do or suffer a tedious journey looking at the back of a bus standing in a cloud of billowing black diesel exhaust. Tico many drivers do not wait for a clear shot at this, but go ahead recklessly on blind corners. We have witnessed many hair-raising close to losing.

Driving Tips for Mountain:

• Avoid driving at night. Street lighting mountain areas is largely unavailable. The bumps are effectively invisible, such as pedestrians, not have the spotlight on themselves. The glare from road traffic approaching it is difficult to see. People rarely dip its high beam headlamps for oncoming traffic. You are also more likely to find drunk drivers at night, especially Friday and Saturday.

• Drive defensively. This means that at a speed appropriate to conditions, which can effectively stop suddenly if necessary. Small towns have been developed to the edge of the road, children and dogs can appear out of nowhere. Never take your eyes off the road, even for a second. mountain roads are winding and never know what may come around the curve you.

• A comprehensive insurance (INS, the insurer in the country, with agents in every small town) that covers all damages to your own car is a good idea. That protects against damage caused by being beaten by an uninsured vehicle.

Oh, and if you have an accident while driving, here's an important fact. Do not move the vehicle. Yes, indeed, the cars should remain as they are until the INS (insurance your state) and the inspector of the traffic police arrive, take pictures, make measurements and write their report. This causes enormous problems for traffic flow with backup stretches for miles, but that's how it is here.

Vaya Con Dios!

About the Author

Rob has lived in Costa Rica for eleven years, formerly developed and managed a yoga retreat centre there, and is currently forming a small residential yoga village in the mountains of Costa Rica. For more information see

www.costa-rica-mountain-property.com

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