Driving in Costa Rica: Driver Files Appeal Against Costa Rica's New Traffic Law

Costa Rica's recently approved traffic law consists of harsher punishments for motorists failing to buckle up to driving under the influence.

Yesterday the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court received its first appeal by a man accused of drinking under the influence. The man, named Fuentes, is appealing against a section of the new law that calls for a prison sentence for motorists caught driving while intoxicated, the court said.

Fuentes cited the World Health Organization's categorization of alcoholism as a disease and claimed the state should apply curative measures rather than criminalize drunken driving.

The case came after a week in which Costa Rica police arrested dozens of drivers for allegedly driving under the influence. Authorities said 26 arrests were made over the weekend in Filadelfia, in Costa Rica's northwestern province of Guanacaste, when people were driving home from a party in the area.

The drivers' vehicles and licenses were taken away and could be held for up to two years, while the motorists could face one to three years in jail, TV channel 7's Web site, www.teletica.com, reported.

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