www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I want to thank all of you for your feedback. Common sense was seeping into the ol' brain.

I went online and looked at the potential "fees" such as insurance with was up to $22 a day (almost double the cost of the rental). Plus, since I am in the gulch, don't leave it often during my trips... It appears any trips to Escazu or elsewhere would probably be cheaper via taxi, plus less worries about when I can and can not drink.

Taxi it is.

Limiting factors like common sense can be a help sometimes--saved my ass more than once.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Pretty typical in San Jose for Ticos to drink a beer or cuba libre on their walk home from the mas x menos. No cop in San Jose is going to stop you for being drunk in public.

3D – Until recently the Polica Transito were rarely deployed at night. They were most commonly deployed in the metro area at choke points where drivers entered or exited the circunvalación which is effectively the “belt route” around the city of San José.

Under cousin Laura the new president and her new Transito directorate they are actually attempting to address the causes of traffic collisions rather than simply “collecting taxes” e.g., stopping people for expired registration and driving on the circunvalación on a restricted day.

Handheld breathalyzers are notoriously inaccurate. I can only speak for the state laws with which I am somewhat familiar (California) and a hand held would not be permitted in California courts based on lack of calibration if nothing else.

I have never seen a field sobriety test given here in CR. I defer to ID about the CR law inasmuch as I am not sure what are the codified elements of the crime of driving while intoxicated. If that law follows the pattern of other laws here it is probably not very succinct, open to great scrutiny with broad and disparate interpretation and in the end grossly unfair by US and Canadian standards.

All that said, it is Costa Rica, it is their country, and their laws. I have to agree with the other people who live here and drive: DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE.

TIP: if you do, buy a bag of peanuts; chew them thoroughly and keep them in your mouth for some time; if you do it long enough it will more or less (temporarily for ½ hour) neutralize the odor of alcohol.

The Fuerza Public claims be aggressively going after corruption. As in most states, peace officers must have their badge number or name or both in a visible place on an outside garment. Costa Rica is no different. While they should have a serial number (no FP badges) and their name displayed, not all do.

BTW, those hand-held machines can be pretty accurate. The problem exist with residual alcohol from previous tests. For instance, if they just tested someone a few minutes before you, your results may be higher. In the US, those are Pre-lim test only and speaking for Virginia law are not admissible in court unless the defense brings it in.

I have no clue how they're treated in the CR judicial system, but I practice walking when I sip a beer... never driving. The Public intoxication question and answer is good to know.

Also, just so another myth is created (and I know that Diego said it perfectly correct). It would only cover the ODOR... It will not fool the breathalyzer.

Now, I think I'll open a bottle of rum, open up a can of tuna fish... It'll remind me of an unsavory session that we all try to avoid.

Damned, you're funny, but I wanted to forget that!

We simply disagree on this matter. There are many documented problems with any breathalyzer system but particularly the hand held breathalyzer. A couple of major problems with the system are:

Calibration, which is what I think you were alluding to when you said that a “problem exist with residual alcohol from previous tests.” Like any precision electronic or electro-mechanical or electro-chemical measuring system, it must be calibrated between uses. A failure to calibrate between uses and a failure to affix a previously unused mouth piece, would be grounds for a dismissal of charges in a US court of law. In addition to the cleaning and calibration between field uses, to be accurate the instrument must be regularly cleaned and calibrated by a trained factory technician.

Another problem is the potential for radio frequency interference (RFI) and/or electro-magnetic interference (EMI) interference. That could come from the police officer’s radio, a radar gun, cell phones, nearby power lines or any other source which emits a radio frequency.

If the measuring device does not have an RFI detector the likelihood of a false reading is very high. In a series of tests conducted on 16 different makes of breathalyzers by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), ten of the 16 breathalyzers “showed substantial susceptibility” to a false reading on at least one frequency thereby questioning the accuracy of any breath test. The other six of 16 in the tests showed minimal interference.

Even if there is an RFI detector on the breathalyzer they have been shown to be unreliable because under repeated testing evidence surfaced that certain bands of frequency can evade and avoid the RFI detector; again this is from NHTSA.
Think of it this way, why don't hospitals allow the use of cell telephones and/or radios in hospitals: EFI and/or EMI (interference) disrupts the accuracy of medical tests. People can die and the hospital can get sued.

The only laws with which I have some degree of confidence are California laws. A person arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant -- whether it be alcohol, drugs or a combination of alcohol and drugs - is arrested and tried based on the objective symptoms of intoxication. Those symptoms are established through the administration of a standardized field sobriety test (FST) or some other reasonable objective indicators of intoxication. The blood, breath or urine test becomes corroborative evidence to the peace officers observation of objective symptoms.

The most accurate of the three tests is the blood test, the least accurate is the urine test. So if you get arrested for intoxicated driving in the US, do your defense attorney a favor and ask for the urine test. One test or another doesn't much matter in a place like CR where the laws are flexible depending upon who you are and who you know.

Update -

Just back from nine nights with my 33 y/o amante. Made it home between midnight & 2:30 nine nights. Getting up every morning between 6 & 8, my old ass was looking forward to returning to work for a little rest...

I decided to take the common-sense recommendations of this forum & drink zero alcohol. Wasn't as bad as I expected.

Anyway, one night we were stopped twice in five minutes after leaving the HDR - once by transito & once by fuerza publica. Transito decidedly unprofessional, pushing the "I know you've been drinking line". FP decidedly professional. Bottom line - no issues.

Thanks for the wake-up, guys.

/dddick

I love it....someone jacking w/ you for a change...how you like it? Then you think the good ol usa " ill tell em im a cop" shit might help hahahah...dude you aint a cop in CR why would you even mention it? And you gotta be kinda dumb to drive out the gulch after 7-8 beers...just asking for trouble!

I was waved over by standing Policia with green cones Thursday night at 12:45am (Friday morning 12:45am actually) leaving the Del Rey going down the hill just past New York bar. Me and passenger showed our passports and and vehicle registration and were on our way.

Again waved over by a Policia 'road block' just after turning right in front of INS building going toward Sleep Inn at 7:00pm Friday. Showed just my Costa Rica license, asked to roll down back window for a flashlight look and was on my way.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Were they waiving over taxi cabs?

I just saw them waving over private vehicles . I was in my own vehicle. Taxis are usually safe from harassment.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Roger that.

Ok, let me restate the "innacurrate/accurate" claim. I spent 13 years doing the job, used pre-lim devices hundreds of times. I can say that when done properly, nearly every case resulted in a very close "end-result", such as an official breath test or blood test.

A .04 limit is pretty easy to hit. I've been tested .02 after one beer over 2 hours after I started drinking it. It was a pint of draft..probably a bit stronger than typical US beer but not much. So I'm thinking I may have been over .03 say 20 minutes after I finished it...if I had been drinking relatively fast. Pretty easy for that to be .04. And I'm not small...I was around 190 pounds at the time. Limit where I come from is now .04, and at .08 you do jail time and lose your license for a year or two.