Cars – Driving
Many foreigners who decide to live in Costa Rica, or come to visit seasonally, find that it is necessary for them to acquire a vehicle to get around. In this way, the high costs of renting a vehicle are avoided, since it is not an occasional visit. However, some have encountered bad experiences when acquiring a vehicle that has been salvage, total lost, suffered odometer alterations, and the like....
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica In my March 14th article about the validity of foreign drivers’ licenses used by tourists, I also mentioned that it was pending an official resolution. At long last, we finally have that resolution, and it will be published in the official newspaper La Gaceta in the next few days, according to the MOPT website. The resolution covers two categ...
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica While unofficial at this writing, MOPT (Costa Rica Ministry of Public Works and Transportation) has issued a recent communication. The validity of foreign drivers’ licenses for TOURISTS with valid visas has been extended to June 1, 2021. This is in keeping with the recent TOURIST visa extensions from March 2, 2021, to June 1, 2021. The offici...
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica If you go to the MOPT (Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Works & Transportation) website (English translation), you will see a very misleading headline: “Drivers can use foreign license for 6 more months.” https://www.mopt.go.cr/wps/portal/Home/inicio/ We wish. Not true for those of you who just had your TOURIST visa extended to Ju...
For the month of February, the Costa Rican Government announced some changes in the sanitary restrictions. When it comes to vehicular transit restrictions the weekend schedule will be extended for an additional hour, which means cars (restricted still by plate number) will be allowed to transit between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The weekend restriction by plate number remains in place for Februar...
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica On my phone consultation with MOPT, it was confirmed that the validity of foreign driver's licenses has finally been extended to March 2, 2021. The official notice has not yet been posted on the MOPT site as of this writing, but it is official. For those of you whose validity would have expired today (November 18, 2020), you are free to drive le...
By Laura Gutierrez of Immigration Help Costa Rica Based on a significant number of emails I receive, there are still many despondent or hesitant travelers to Costa Rica who have not yet heard that the onerous 72-hour negative COVID test is no longer required to enter Costa Rica. The entry requirements of carrying COVID medical insurance and filling out the health survey are still in place bu...
This Monday, November 2nd the National Insurance Institute (INS) began charging the 2020 Marchamo, the vehicle’s circulation permit, similar to the registration payment in the United States; this tax must be paid by December 31st for the 2021 period, otherwise, drivers risk getting a ticket and will have to pay a late fee. There is a total of 1,568,375 vehicles registered in the country. Tak...
This Monday, October 5, Costa Rica reached a grand total of 81,129 confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of which 49,703 have recovered. 1004 people have died in relation to this virus and 570 people are currently hospitalized, 212 of them remain in the intensive care unit. Despite this, the Minister of Economy, Industry and Commerce, Victoria Hernández announced the decision to reopen bars and casin...
On Monday, September 28 for unknown reasons a pick-up truck caught fire on Route 27 Santa Ana – San Jose near the toll booths. The incident occurred after the pick up truck had passed the toll booth, the fire started, the driver got out of the car, and the driver of a tank truck stopped to offer help, however, the truck starts rolling in reverse and out of control towards the toll booths. Th...
Saturday August 8th Costa Rica has registered 721 new Covid-19 cases for a total 22,802 confirmed patients out of which 7,589 have already recovered. 360 people are hospitalized, 80 of them in the intensive care unit. 228 deaths are reported in relation to the pandemic in the country. The government announced adjustments on the restrictions and sanitary measures that had already been announc...
As of Wed July 28th Costa Rica has registered a total 16,800 confirmed cases of Covid-19 out of which 4,050 have already recovered. 334 people are currently hospitalized and 75 of them remain in the intensive care unit. The number of deaths related to this virus has increased to 133 with over 110 deaths in July alone. The Costa Rican government announced the new measures that will be in place for...
The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) informed that the owners of cars which plates end on 5 or 6 will have an additional month to comply with the technical inspection (RITEVE). This resolution was already signed by Minister Rodolfo Méndez Mata, who explained that it is part of the measures adopted by MOPT and the Costa Rican Road Safety Council (COSEVI) to normalize the assist...
Costa Rica has 577 cases of Covid-19 confirmed as of Saturday March 11th, the government has announced it will be placing additional restrictions on vehicular traffic until April 30. Beginning on April 13, there will be a complete nighttime restriction from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day. When it comes to daytime restrictions, during the weekdays the restriction will be from 5 a.m. and 7 p.m., v...
A head-on collision that took place at 4:28 a.m. this Monday morning in the area of Colorado, Curubande, Liberia, Guanacaste took the lives of two Americans, the victims were identified as Enisha Lashelle Roberson, 38 years of age and her six year old son Cannon Anthony Roberson, a third person also died in the tragic accident, Costa Rican Allan Gerardo Pereira Leiva, age 39 (driver). Anthon...
A very unusual road accident caused the death of two people the evening of Thursday October 10th in Garabito, Puntarenas. The Fire department reported the accident took place at approximately 7:53 p.m. in front of Nativa Resort on route 34 when a bus that was traveling from Jacó towards Orotina suddenly received the impact through the front windshield of two tractor trailer wheels which went st...
The Minister of Labor, Steven Nuñez, resigned this Friday Sept 27th after the traffic officer that escorted him to Limon died in a car accident in the early hours of that same day. Nuñez apparently requested the escort last minute since he was running behind to attend a meeting in the province of Limon, since traffic is regulated in a segment of Route 32, the Minister made the request for a tra...
The National Roads Authority (CONAVI) is planning the closure of La Amistad Bridge over the Tempisque river which connects the Guanacaste counties of Cañas and Nicoya. The closure obeys to the need to do maintenance and repair works and will require the closure of the structure for at least two months and an investment of over one million dollars. Helmut Wenzel, original designer of the stru...
By John McPhaul All the elements of a development of hydrogen energy in Costa Rica to power public transportation, trucks and even part of the electric energy grid have been invented and are proven technologies, now all that is missing is putting the elements together to sizably reduce Costa Rica’s carbon footprint, said Juan del Valle Gamboa, Director of Operations for Ad Astra, the Costa Rica...
The Costa Rican state refinery RECOPE had announced its plan to begin selling gasoline with ethanol by the end of May; however, this Tuesday, April 9, the Government announced it was putting the plan on hold for at least one year. RECOPE planned to include 8% of ethanol in the current fuel formulation, the norm allows between 5% and 10%, this with the objective of reducing the CO2 emissions. Th...
As of the end of May, the Costa rican state refinery RECOPE will be selling gasoline with ethanol with the objective of reducing emissions. Initially the new fuel will contain an 8% of ethanol in its formulation, the norm allows between 5% and 10%, to help reduce the CO2 emissions, which would contribute on public health and the protection of the environment. Ethanol or alcohol is naturally ...
The “Expomóvil 2019” is a traditional car expo event in Costa Rica where different agencies show their newest vehicles and provide discounts, special offers and financing. The car fair began will be open through Match 24 at the Pedregal Event Center in San Antonio de Belén, Heredia. Assistants will have the opportunity to compare 45 different vehicle brands, and find the best financing options ...
Validation of a Foreign Driver’s License in Costa Rica. Those foreigners staying in the country for more than 3 months and wanting to drive a car are required by law to obtain a Costa Rican driver’s license. They can validate the license of their country of origin by fulfilling the following requirements: Must be over the age of 18. Proof of legal residency, through residency card, work p...
The Transit Police in Costa Rica is now operating equipment acquired and provided by the Technical Vehicle Inspection company (RITEVE) with the purpose of improving road safety. The mobile units will be used on the streets with the purpose of checking gas emissions, and the general conditions of the vehicles, tires, lights, breaks, just as it is done on vehicles every year. It is mandator...
Yesterday after the Government of Costa Rica presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly to legalize Uber and similar platforms allowing them to coexist with regular cab services, Uber analyzed the proposal and stated its position in this regard. According to Uber ¨the vision of the government is far from being a proposal that promotes innovation, competition and development of technology¨ ...
Tuesday January 22nd The Costa Rican Government presented a law project to Congress that would legalize Uber and similar platforms allowing them to coexist with regular cab services. According to the Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Rodolfo Méndez Mata, Costa Rica must accept the reality of the new technologies and economic models that are already regulated in other parts of the wor...
The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) in Costa Rica inaugurated this Monday, December 18, new security devices in 23 railroad crossings in sectors of San Jose and Cartago. The safety barriers and traffic lights at the railroad crossways have the purpose of offering additional prevention and security for drivers, warning them in a more efficient manner of the presence of the tr...
As explained in a previous article, December is time for all owners of motorcycles, automobiles, SUVs, Pick-ups and trucks in Costa Rica to pay the MARCHAMO, which is collected by INS (National Insurance Company). We mentioned that the largest amount to pay on the marchamo is a government tax created in 1987, when law #7088 took effect creating a property tax against all vehicles, airplanes and bo...
All owners of motorcycles, automobiles, SUVs, Pick ups, Trucks and similar in Costa Rica are obligated to pay the MARCHAMO before the end of December. The amount can be checked at http://portal.ins-cr.com/marchamo/marchamo/frmconsultamarchamo.aspx As of January 1st, 2019 all cars without proof of payment are exposed to a fine and license plate removal from Traffic Police officers (Transito). Fo...
Three weeks behind regular schedule, the National Insurance Institute (INS) in Costa Rica will begin collecting the 2019 Marchamo payment this Saturday, November 24 at 7 a.m. The delay this year was caused by a disagreement with the General Insurance Superintendency (Sugese) which had to authorize the amounts to be paid for the Obligatory Car Insurance (SOA) which this year will have an increas...
Only behind Argentina and Mexico, Costa Rica takes the third place in Latin America when it comes to car density, with an average 231 cars per 1000 inhabitants, according to information published by the State of the Nation 2018 report. Argentina has a vehicle density of 315 and Mexico 278. The traffic problems in the Great Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica are not news to anyone; in the pas...
Costa Rica’s state refinery, RECOPE, announced they will be mixing the “super” gasoline with ethanol as of May 2019. According to Alejandro Muñoz, president of RECOPE, the plan is to include a 10% of alcohol per liter of super gas; at a later date, the “regular” or “plus” gas will also be mixed. Ethanol or alcohol is naturally produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts via petrochemic...
The Costa Rican Government announced a package of decrees and a directive to promote the use of electric cars. At the beginning of this year the Government approved the Electric Transportation Bill which established several tax exemptions on new electric cars of even 100% depending on the cost of the same. This new decree benefits those that want to buy used electric cars of no more than 5 ...
Taxi drivers joined the general strike today and are protesting by doing “tortuguismo”, basically driving slow enough so as to cause congestion in different sectors of the country, causing many transit problems, mainly in the General Cañas highway (Alajuela-San Jose). Messages of angry drivers are flooding social media channels complaining against the red cabs and their practice, which is affec...
Photo Credit: Zona de Motores FB In the early hours this Sunday, authorities and rescue entities received the alert of a very unusual accident in the Zapote roundabout, where a car ended up at almost the top of the Garantías Sociales monument. According to preliminary information the driver of the vehicle died as a result of the accident; no details have been released with regards to the ide...
Fuel shortages are being reported in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas, but also in some areas of San Jose, as a result of the constant road blocks created by protesters near the Recope (state’s refinery) facilities throughout different points of Costa Rica. According to a press release offered by Recope, tanker trucks decided this Sunday afternoon not to enter the Recope facilities in...
The National Power and Light Company (CNFL) inaugurated the first fast charge station for electric vehicles in Costa Rica. This new station, located in the facilities of the CNFL in Escazu, is actually the first fast charge station in the Central American region, and it has the capacity to charge the battery of an electric vehicle up to an 80% in 30 minutes. According to the CNFL this is ju...
Photo Credit: La Nacion/Shirley Vásquez Even though this Tuesday public institutions in Costa Rica report having been less affected than yesterday by the general labor strike, and a very low percentage of employees that joined the movement, some areas and people were still affected throughout the day mainly due to protesters marching in the middle of the roads. One of roads affected was the ...
The Costa Rican Government informed of an aggressive plan of investment on road infrastructure for a total of $4.6 billion that will cover urgent work and county road projects along the entire territory. The Government also announced the strengthening and expansion of the model of works by concession with an investment of over $8.5 million which includes the reinforcement of the National Conce...
Thursday September 6th a metal beam section of the bridge (referred to as "La platina" in Costa Rica) of the Juan Pablo II bridge on the General Cañas highway connecting San Jose and Alajuela, detached, leaving pins uncovered that caused more than 40 vehicles to end up with flat tires. The problem is on the road from San Jose to Alajuela, the Traffic Police are already in the area informing dri...