Unlike in the US where it's mandatory (though many flaunt the law), most locals don't carry auto insurance. Considering that auto collision work costs about 1/10th to 1/15th what it costs in the states and that the rates are very expensive due to the high number of accidents. It only makes sense to take the risk, NOT! I never said locals had common sense, did I? The truth is, auto insurance comes in more shapes and sizes than you can imagine and is offered through the government. The truth is, it's simply not affordable to many Costa Ricans. Which goes a long way to explaining why the buses (and now Uber, which is a whole other story) are such a popular means of transport. The fact that gas costs between $4 and $5 a gallon is another deterrent to having your own vehicle. On the bright side, if you do purchase gas, like in NJ (and Oregon I think), they will pump it for you. Gas prices are the same nationwide since they are government regulated too. Seeing a pattern here?
So how often are there accidents? We witnessed two of them on the highway between the airport and our hotel the first night. This was about a fifteen minute drive. Quite honestly, that number was probably low considering how many cars we witnessed trying to pass everyone in front them, even on the fast moving toll road. Though, on the remainder of our trip, once we left San Jose, the roads became nearly desolate, and we didn't witness any other crashes. We did see a few landslides, one completely blocking one lane of traffic, on a two-lane road.
We also witnessed lots of extremely slow drivers, mainly driving cars that I haven't seen on the road since my teens. For every late model car, there is an early 90's Tercel or Civic. Some of them are in perfect shape too. I imagine if I drove everywhere at half speed, my car would look better too.
Road conditions varied more than dress changes at a Cher concert. The highways, some of which are toll roads, were in excellent condition. These were better than the roads at home even. Tributaries to the highways were mostly in excellent shape as well. But once you hit the dirt roads, some of which are necessary to get between some fairly sizeable towns. All bets are off! If you ever wondered how a 30 mile trip could take 120 minutes without traffic? Drive some of the roads between the Nacoya Peninsula and Guanacaste. And if we didn't have an SUV with 4-wheel drive, it would have taken significantly longer. Many of those potholes are of the tire-flattening capacity. This is all kind of amazing too as everywhere you look, there are road repair crews doing their thing.
Ideally, if I lived in Costa Rica. I'd probably want both an SUV for trips to the airport and perhaps a moped or an ATV for short trips, like riding into town to get some necessities.
So how often are there accidents? We witnessed two of them on the highway between the airport and our hotel the first night. This was about a fifteen minute drive. Quite honestly, that number was probably low considering how many cars we witnessed trying to pass everyone in front them, even on the fast moving toll road. Though, on the remainder of our trip, once we left San Jose, the roads became nearly desolate, and we didn't witness any other crashes. We did see a few landslides, one completely blocking one lane of traffic, on a two-lane road.
We also witnessed lots of extremely slow drivers, mainly driving cars that I haven't seen on the road since my teens. For every late model car, there is an early 90's Tercel or Civic. Some of them are in perfect shape too. I imagine if I drove everywhere at half speed, my car would look better too.
Road conditions varied more than dress changes at a Cher concert. The highways, some of which are toll roads, were in excellent condition. These were better than the roads at home even. Tributaries to the highways were mostly in excellent shape as well. But once you hit the dirt roads, some of which are necessary to get between some fairly sizeable towns. All bets are off! If you ever wondered how a 30 mile trip could take 120 minutes without traffic? Drive some of the roads between the Nacoya Peninsula and Guanacaste. And if we didn't have an SUV with 4-wheel drive, it would have taken significantly longer. Many of those potholes are of the tire-flattening capacity. This is all kind of amazing too as everywhere you look, there are road repair crews doing their thing.
Ideally, if I lived in Costa Rica. I'd probably want both an SUV for trips to the airport and perhaps a moped or an ATV for short trips, like riding into town to get some necessities.
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