On August 11, an initiative to modify the Land Transportation, Transit, Road Safety and Mobility Law was presented in the Legislative Assembly, with the goal of approving a new road safety regulation.

If approved, 233 articles of the current law will be reformed. One of the highlights is the dissolution of the Vice-Ministry of Transportation, which will be replaced by the General Directorate of Mobility and Road Safety.

For our senior associate lawyer, Rubén Rivas, this change in the structure of the Ministry of Public Works responds to an improvement in the efficiency of the agency, as well as the integration of representatives from other sectors to make the Directorate more “multifaceted”.

“What is behind this structural change is to try to make the country’s mobility management more efficient, in terms of costs and resources. At the same time, actors from other fields are integrated to make better decisions,” reflected.

In the section on the imposition of fines for infractions to the law, the regulation includes an increase in the penalty rate. Under the current law, fines range from $11.43 to $57.14 US dollars. Now with the new regulation, the fines will be increased by $50, $100 and $150.

In this case, our expert states that the purpose of the increase in fines is to minimize the risk on the roads: “Generally, in traffic and criminal matters, what is in the minds of people who commit infractions is that they may be sanctioned”.

On the other hand, the authorized percentage of alcohol at the moment of performing alcotest tests will be compressed. The limit will be set at 0.5 grams per liter in blood or its equivalent in exhaled air. For Rivas, this change in the percentage responds to the need for drivers to reflect on the future legal and monetary consequences they may have.

Our lawyer said that a complete reform to the Land Transportation Law comes in the direction of being able to capture resources to improve the operation or investment in safety and prevention programs. Likewise, the possible reform gives the Directorate of Mobility the possibility of raising debt.

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-Written by Torres Legal Team.