In a civil case against the government of Costa Rica, the First Chamber of the Supreme Court has issued an order to pay 30 million colones (about $60,000) to the surviving relatives of a man who died in a traffic accident caused by poor road conditions.

Sala Primera (our First Chamber) is a high court that reviews cases files against the Executive Branch, the Presidential Cabinet, and many other government institutions. In this particular case, the complaint was filed by the widow of a Mexican citizen who was in Puerto Limon on business. The man worked in the film industry and had arrived in Costa Rica to oversee a project in Limon. He retained the services of a tourism operator with a minivan to take him to his desired location.

En route to the filming location, the driver of the minivan lost control when he encountered a large porthole on the road. The driver attempted evasive action, but instead ran into a pile of gravel left by a road construction crew from the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MOPT) that had not gotten around to repair the road damage.

The minivan swerved out of control into incoming traffic and the Mexican passenger did not survive the crash.

The complaint against the government was filed by the widow and her daughter. Upon review of the evidence presented before the court, the tribunal determined that the pile of dirt and gravel, coupled with the pothole located at the entrance of a highway bridge, was the clear cause of the fatal accident. To exacerbate matters and make the case against the government even stronger, the evidence indicated the absence of any traffic signals to warn motorists of the hazards.

The magistrates added that it is incumbent on the government to assume responsibility for the proper maintenance of all roads, as indicated in our Constitution and the bylaws of the MOPT. The First Chamber concluded that the government was negligent with its poor maintenance of the road in this case.

Source: Informa-Tico.