Madness on our Roads!

Driving in Costa Rica is hazardous, not only because you have to deal with roads under construction, but also you have to deal with careless and imprudent drivers. As a matter of fact, the road that goes to South Sabana and East Sabana is one of the most hideous and riskiest streets.

The train has become the newest talking point.. The only problem about it is the route. The route that transports most people is the one that goes from Pavas to San Pedro. However, drivers consider the train an obstacle because either they’re in a hurry or they don’t want to miss the traffic light. Also, some of them are completely deaf! The train has an astonishingly loud whistle, which in my opinion is impossible not to hear.

This is the case of the incident which took place this past 17^th of March. It was about 5 pm when a driver was about to go past the traffic light but the train was coming. It’s a difficult junction, because everyone wants to pass at the same time and they don’t really care if it’s red or green. Even if the light is green, when you hear the whistle and the train’s coming, you are not supposed to cross. There was this man, as old as his car, who just stayed there waiting in the rail track. You could hear the train coming closer and closer… the car behind him moved a bit back and the man tried to go back but he went exactly to where he was before. It was too late for him; the train went through and hit his front lights and bumper.

It could have been much worse. He got out of his car and said it was nothing but still if it was nothing, why did he follow the train, showing his middle finger because of his own mistake? I guess he’d be one of the million examples of poor Costa Rican driving these days. Watching the accident makes me question the security on the streets and definitely makes me feel more insecure about getting a driver’s license and about street safety.

Hopefully this can help you to improve your driving, to become more cautious and to motivate you to improve this country’s transport system. For those who are yet to get their license, all I can say is that you’re going to need good luck and good management.

Jimena Gomez

Senior 2A