Too Mental to Drive?

Costa Rica’s long awaited reforms to the Traffic Law include some ridiculous provisions. I shall spare you any debate regarding the “point system” or the new, extremely high fines for violating the law. What has really caught my eye is a report in the San Jose daily La Nación that details a requirement for anyone getting a driver’s license for the first time, or renewing an existing one, must pass a psychological exam before the Government will concede permission to operate a motor vehicle.

We’ve all seen how people drive here. This doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Except I’m sure it won’t work.

I got my license about six months ago. The byzantine process then, as now and as included in the new traffic bill, includes a medical evaluation to make sure potential drivers are fit to get behind the wheel. Fine. Except the medical exams go like this: The doctor asks you if you have any health problems. You say no. He checks off many boxes on a sheet. Then he takes your blood pressure, and asks you to read the first letter on the eye chart (the famously huge E) and if you can see it, you’re good to go. That’s 20,000 colones for a worthless three-minute checkup. It’s nothing more than a government-sponsored scam.

The psychological exam would test people’s reaction to stress, hostility towards others and whatnot. I’d bet the farm that this provision, born of a meeting with legislator Grettel Ortiz with the Colegio de Psicólogos de Costa Rica, would be about as rigorous as the medical exam. That’s another 20,000 colones down the drain for potential drivers, with absolutely no tangible benefit for people on the road. The Government would do a lot better actually enforcing the current laws and creating public awareness of the importance of prudent driving than bilking the public out of money. I truly hope the Government comes to its senses and realizes that acquiring a driver’s license and operating a vehicle should be a serious venture, and not something born out of chorizo.

— Pete Majerle

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