A Supreme Court ratification of a ruling by a court of appeals places the burden of liability on the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOPT) in relation to a 2005 accident that took the life of Manuel Angel Morales Piedra in Perez Zeledon. MOPT must now pay the surviving family members about $135,000.

Manuel Angel Morales was trying to cross the southbound lanes of the Inter-American Highway when he was struck by a motorist traveling over the speed the limit. The court argued that while there is evidence of the driver’s negligence insofar as reckless driving, the accident does not relieve the government of certain responsibilities crucial to the case.

According to the text of the ruling, there was a significant lack of highway safety measures in the portion of the highway where the fatal accident took place. Just days before the accident, MOPT had completed a highway expansion project that widened the southbound Inter-American to five lanes in order to increase speeds and improve the flow of traffic. The high court found that the lower appellate chamber was correct in pointing out that the government failed to apply sufficient safety measures to allow pedestrian traffic. Members of the community in the area of Perez Zeledon where the accident took place are forced to cross the highway as part of their daily life, and there are no pedestrian bridges or traffic light signals in place to protect them.

The government and the National Highway Council (CONAVI in Spanish) must now pay the Morales widow about $55,000 in damages. The deceased is also survived by four children, and each can expect to receive about $20,000, plus interest accumulated since the date of the accident.

Earlier this year, the MOPT lost a case in which it was ordered to pay about $60,000 in the traffic death of a Mexican film producer who was traveling on Route 32 near Limon. That case was reported in a previous article by The Costa Rica Star.

Source: La Prensa Libre