Due to a recent Sala IV (Constitutional Court) decision, the Policía de Tránsito (traffic police) cannot tow illegally parked vehicles unless the owner of the vehicle is present.
Viviana Martín, the vice ministra de Transportes, assures that the only option available to Tránsitos (traffic officials) is to issue a fine if the owner is nowhere to be found. The vice-minister added that of the average 180 fines issued daily, only five vehicles end up being towed.
“We have our hands tied”, said Martín.
The vice-minister says that her traffic officials only rely on Article 129 of the Ley de Tránsito that allows the issue a ¢5.000 colones fine and assures that in many cases the vehicle owners hide from the officials to prevent their vehicle being towed.
Illegal parking is a major problem in San José, contributing to much of the downtown congestion, as vehicles parked on the narrow street impede the flow of traffic or large vehicles like buses or delivery trucks from getting by, creating bottlenecks.
