Tomorrow the reforms to the Ley de Tránsito could be approved into law, given that 28 legislators voted in favour, while 14 against, in first vote taken at 7:15pm Tuesday night.

According to legislative rules, the next vote cannot be taken until Thursday, where if the majority vote in favour, the Ley de Tránsito that went into effect on March 1, 2010, will see the following major changes:

1. A reduction in the amount of the traffic fines

2. The elimination of the point system

3. Drunk drivers will only face criminal charges if found with a 0.75 blood alcohol content

As to the fines, the fine of ¢227.000 colones for reckless driving or driving under the influence or driving in excess of 120 km/h stays the same. No changes were also made to the ¢146.700 fine for not respecting a traffic signal, like running a red light or not having the vehicular inspection up to date.

The fines reduced are those for driving a motorcycle in the middle of the road or sidewalk, from ¢99.756 to ¢49.858; illegal parking from ¢79.218 to ¢38.142; blocking an intersection or driving with an expired license, from ¢56.680 to ¢29.340; not having the vehicle registration in the vehicle, from ¢41.076 to ¢20.538; and not respecting the vehicular restrictions of San José, from ¢20.538 to ¢8.802.

A full list of the fines will be available once the law is approved.

Some of the other important changes is the keeping of the six months to eight years prison and a suspension of a drivers license from one to five years for “vehicular manslaughter”. That sanction, however, doubles to one to sixteen years prison and from 5 to 15 years suspension is alcohol (over 0.50) is involved

Courtesy of Insidecostarica.com