Auto Technical Tests Stalled

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In Costa Rica, if you want to be gratified in your old age, submit a bill to the Legislative Assembly when you're young. Despite the fact that the time for examination of vehicles for emissions and dangerous defects before obtaining a circulation permit (marchamo) is upon us, a legal limbo reigns.

This is because, for nearly 15 months, a new traffic law has been in the legislative works. The previous legislation gave the Spanish-Costa Rican firm Riteve a 10-year contract as a monopoly on vehicle inspections.

As the contract neared expiration, a movement developed to open up inspections to be done by private mechanics, as had been the practice before Riteve appeared on the scene.

The Chinchilla Administration submitted a bill to open up the duty to two firms, but many lawmakers, receiving pressure from mechanics all over the country, wanted numerous government-authorized private mechanics to get in on the lucrative business.

So far, the matter seems straight forward and simple. But Viviana Martin, chairperson of the Assembly committee charged with reviewing the bill, admits that some differences of opinion remain unresolved. The opposition coalition that forms the majority of the committee insists that a number of mechanics be included.

The leading newspaper La Nacion reported that PASE deputy Victor Emilio Granados complained that neither President Laura Chinchilla nor the Ministry of Transport (MOPT) has given their opinion about the matter.

Not unnaturally, Riteve manager Fernando Mayorga is disturbed by the indecision, noting that if the government does not renew their concession after 20 years, it stands to lose the infrastructure of the firm's network of inspection sites.

Mayorga warned that if the government does not renew the concession, the scheduled reversion of the land, buildings and equipment cannot be passed to the government.

Moreover, Riteve is demanding a 19% increase in the fees charged to motorists for inspection, from 10,000 colones to 11,900. Moreover, Riteve threatens international arbitration if the government does not comply.

The Riteve manager signaled that the company is is willing to continue its service -- as long as regulations require competition to comply with the same regulations government quality -- if the concession is renewed.

Analysis: Mayorgas"s reservations are well founded about stringency of regulations. In the bad old days, many private mechanics authorized to inspect vehicles were incompetent or practice cronyisms or were bribed to turn a blind eye to vehicular defects. (See previous articles.)

Thus, accidents due to mechanical failure to brakes and other vital components abounded, sometimes with fatal results. Most spectacular of these were buses that sometimes were allowed to rust where the bolts attached the rear suspension to the frame. They would leave their rear axles in the street like some gigantic bodybuilder's barbells.

Since Riteve appeared on the scene, such accidents are rare. So are plumes of smoke left by buses and trucks, sometimes on their way to their terminals after emissions "inspection."

Indeed, when Riteve began inspections, they were stringent. Finally, then - - President Abel Pacheco appealed to them to loosen up their criteria a bit.

This is, of course, not the only complication caused by the Legislative Assembly's making haste at a snail's pace. The schedule of traffic fines has not been altered by lawmakers, despite a firestorm surrounding it.

Supreme Court challenges have caused the highway safety council (CONAVI) to undeploy its traffic vigilance cameras at dangerous sections of highway.