Watch Your Booze Intake

UPDATE: First-time drunk drivers will not face jail time, according to this note from La Nacion. Here’s my translation of part of the article:

If there is no physical or material damage, and [the driver] is stopped with a blood alcohol level of over .075, they will be ticketed for 293,400 colones, but the driver will not go to jail.

Jail is only applicable for drunk drivers “for 1 to 3 years, and the inability to drive any type of vehicle for 1 to 5 years, [applicable] to whomever is caught again within five years for driving an automobile under the influence of alcoholic beverages with a BAC of over .075 grams of alcohol per liter of blood.”

If a driver is caught driving drunk again, he could be sentenced to between two and eight years in prison.

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With the new traffic law in effect, drivers have to be extra careful when tooling around Costa Rica. And while some aspects of the law are still being debated (or not even enforced), government officials are working hard to curb the drunk driving culture that plagues the streets. The new law considers a driver drunk at .05 (in the US it’s generally .08) and the fines start at 227,000 colones ($415). Drivers caught with drinks on their breath will lose their license for two years, may lose their car and may even face jail time.

So you have to be careful. I found an interesting online BAC calculator that people with the new 3G internet-enabled phones can use anywhere. It’s not science, but it’s a start. Check it out before wondering if you’re OK to drive.

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