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Transito Code changes include mandatory insurance
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You'll have to have insurance to get license plates now

New Transito Code takes effect

by Eric Jackson

On January 1 a new Transito Code went into effect, with many new provisions. The legislature was set to deal with the metropolitan bus issue as part of the package late in the year but backed down on that aspect for a few months. A strike threat may have had something to do with it but in any case the Torrijos administration had not yet done all the necessary things to implement its plan to replace the owner-operated bus system with a bus concession granted to one or more large corporations. However, even though the deputies let the bus issue slide until the next regular legislative session, in December they did take up other parts of the country's traffic law.

Probably the most noteworthy change is that drivers will have to get liability insurance --- they don't have to insure themselves or their cars, but do have to buy coverage for the people or things they may crash into --- in order to get updated license plates.

A typo in the Gaceta Oficial had the drunk driving fine going up to $1,500, but actually the hard-drinking legislators only raised it to $150 from the previous $50. Acting Transito director Severino Mejía vows that the modest increase in the penalty will be accompanied by a far more substantial use of breathalyzer tests along the roadsides.

Maybe of more consequence than the heavier fines is the adoption of a point system for various driving offenses, drunk driving being one of the higher-point infractions. If a person racks up 35 points, she or he will lose the right to drive for one year.

The new rules also make it illegal to drive while talking on a cell phone, enable cities to have illegally parked vehicles towed and provide new fines for jaywalking pedestrians.