KKWM

Hi,
I read somewhere that children under 12 are required to be in a booster seat in a car in Costa Rica. Is anyone else familiar with this? I was planning on bringing a booster for my 7-year-old but not the 9 year-old. Now it looks like I need to drag one along for him too. Is this correct? Thanks.

KKWM

We will be renting a car btw.

MonicaRichards

I have never seen any kind of carseat (or seatbelt) requirements in Costa Rica at all. When we have taken our kids, they were the ONLY ones in carseats, and booster seats are a true novelty there.

MonicaRichards

So in short, good for you for being prepared with a booster for your seven year old, which certainly is safer, and the nine year old will be fine with just the seat belt.

TiltedFlipCurves

I don't think the above responses are correct. Posts on Tripadvisor report that the letter of the statutory law may require booster seats through (until?) age 12 like you said. Service car rental, which is not disinterested, states the requirement that way. A ministry responsible for implementing regulations apparantly has issued something to the effect that boosters are required for children in the height bracket 110 cm to 145 cm, i.e., up to appx. 57." Whatever the actual legal requirement may be, the law includes stiff fines for violating it.

Legal requirements, enforcement of legal requirements, and safety requirements are of course three different things.

hsmithcr

You will need to use the booster seat for the 9-year-old. The law goes by age and then by size but a child needs to be 12 before the booster seat is unnecessary. If you are renting a car, you can let the rental agency know and they will supply you with the appropriate booster seats.

TiltedFlipCurves

We will have a 9-year-old, and therefore may need a booster seat, especially if you're right about the 145 cm standard being meaningless. But see http://www.mopt.go.cr/documentos/Bol...Frecuentes.pdf (3. ¿En cuanto a los dispositivos para transportar
niños cuales son los indicados?
Esto no está definido en la ley. Iría en el reglamento y
en todo caso no se sabe si será definitivo. A título de
recomendación se puede citar:
- Portabebés para niños de 0 a 1 año
- Sillas para niños de 1 a 4 años
- Búster par niños de 110cm a 145 cm de estatura
- Luego de que el niño sobrepasa los 145 cm de
estatura puede utilizar únicamente el cinturón de
seguridad ya que este se les ajusta correctamente.")

Assuming a booster seat is legally mandated, does anyone have info on what counts as an "appropriate" seat? We may wind up bringing our own old one, and for one thing I'd like to know whether it's legally allowed to use only the base half, which detaches. The boostee will want to minimize whatever's used, since she's been out of a booster seat in the U.S. since she outgrew the (non-mandatory) size guideline recited by authorities in our state over a year ago, and for the same reason I don't thinke we'll want to do more than the legal minimum on this one.

TiltedFlipCurves

A poor, mechanical translation of the above CR gov't brochure quotation is good enought to convey the sense:

On devices to transport?
children which are those indicated?
This is not defined in the Act. It would be the regulation and
in any case is not known if it will be final. By way of
recommendation may include:
-Slings for children from 0 to 1 year
-Chairs for children from 1 to 4 years
-Children par booster from 110 cm to 145 cm height
-When the child is 145 cm of
stature can only use the belt of
("security already that fits them properly.")

hsmithcr

Translated -

Not sling but an appropriate baby car seat - you know, the kind that straps the baby in and is put in the back seat facing backwards.

When the child is from 1-4 years, a seat can be used where the child is strapped in, sitting up and facing forward.

From 110 cm to 145 cm tall, use a booster seat.

When the child is 145 cm tall, the only requirement is to use the seat belt.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that children under 12 need a booster but since this is the government website, I would just go with the regulations there.

As I said, if you are renting a car, let the rental company know about your children - ages and heights - and they will provide the proper seats for them if needed.

qwovadis

www.mapache.com

www.servicecarrental.com

will have regs and seats you need

might check with them and reserve prior to departure.

what I usually do.

Over the years they have gotten very picky with this

and on speeding through small towns slow to 30 mph(40KPH)

even on main highways or risk tickets up to $500...

Have fun,

hsmithcr

Heed Qwo's advice on speeding.

New traffic laws bring tickets in the $400 - $500 range for speeding. Obey the speed laws wherever you are -- and, no, 60 km per hour is not the same as 60 mph. Signs with speed limits will be posted in kilometers per hour and not miles per hour. Also, you can get a ticket for crossing the double yellow line or not wearing you seatbelt, in addition to the above car seat things for kids. Of course - no drinking and driving. If you are stopped and determined to be drunk, you will go straight to jail.

TiltedFlipCurves

On drinking and driving: My understanding is that the law used to be the similar to some western U.S. states: legal to drink while driving, not legal to be drunk while driving. In other words, fine to open one's first cerveza of the day and sip that while driving. Is that the way the current CR law works?

hsmithcr

It is my understanding that it is OK to have open containers in the car. But if you are stopped and your blood alcohol is over the legal limit, you are toast. The original law proposed had a graduated "punishment" for drunk driving, based on how much over the legal limit one is. I'm not sure if this was changed - I recently read that anyone over the legal limit goes to jail and their car is impounded. But enforcement in Costa Rica, like everywhere else, can be dependent on the individual officer so perhaps not so cut and dried.

MonicaRichards

I am really curious now, are they enforcing these laws? Because when I was in Costa Rica three years ago tour drivers had their four year old children in the front seat unrestrained with them. Child dancers were transported to hotels in the back of trucks unrestrained. We were the ONLY people to use carseats at all that I saw, and I was looking.

TiltedFlipCurves

I think the new law postdates your trip, and is being enforced spottily. But given the steep fines and what I presume is a less tolerant policy when the car involved looks like a rental and turns out to be driven by a tourist, I for one plan to try to stay within the letter.

shillmac

The stricter laws are fairly recent, and seem to me to be directed toward tourists who are assumed to have the money to pay outrageous fines. We have been stopped for not being buckled in the back seat. #1--I don't think there is such a law and #2--the officers were absolutely guessing when they stopped us. We had a child in a child seat, but I was in the back with her and was not buckled. I argued the point in Spanish and they dropped it rather quickly. Many tourists pay "the fine" to the officers, and some are encouraged by that to look for ways to line their pockets. These guys are not well paid. Considering the way the country has been inundated with tourists this type of opportunism is not surprising. Just my dos colones!

KKWM

Thought I had said thanks already. But I guess not. So, Thanks! We will bring along a couple boosters. They are both tall enough that they don't need the backs so it's not that big of a deal. Better safe than sorry and we will absolutely stay within the speed limit.

TiltedFlipCurves

I have not been able to confirm the fine points, but report here what Solid car rental emailed back to me:
a) there is a booster seat requirement
b) they would rent one for $5/day, or, yes, I could bring my own
c) only base, not back, is required.
I asked about a >145 cm exception and they didn't respond to that. Given their interest per (b), make of that what you will.