As The Costa Rica Star reported last year, Costa Rica averaged over 1 death daily in road accidents last year; by December 31st the number was of 457. This number has continued to go up year after year and has reached a rate of 9.16 per every 100,000 inhabitants; motorcyclists make up for almost 50% of those fatal accidents.

In addition to the number of people that have lost their lives on the road, the Social Security Service in Costa Rica (CCSS) informed this beginning of the year that the hospitals in the country receive in average five injured patients every hour as a result of road accidents.

43,987 injured patients received medical attention in 2017, costing the health service close to US$55 million. 54% of the injured patients were motorcyclists.

In the marchamo payment (circulation permit) that vehicle owners in Costa Rica have to pay every year there’s an insurance amount included that covers for up to six million colones (around US$10,600.00), but in many case the cost of the recovery of a patient is a lot more than that, and that difference has to come out of the amount paid by contributors to the basic Social Security insurance system.

According to CCSS in 2017 there were 571 patients in critical condition that received medical attention equivalent to over US$25 million.

“What is worrisome is that a lot of these situations could have been prevented. The majority of these accidents have health consequences that last for a lifetime, and affect not just the person that suffered the accident but also his/her family”, stated Liza Vasquez, part of the Administration of the Social Security Service.

The majority of the accidents are the result of the recklessness and the disrespect of traffic laws. High speeds, and driving under the effects of alcohol or drugs, raise the frequency of accidents and the violence of the same.

Close to 30% of the fatal accidents are related to the consumption of alcohol.