Q COSTA RICA — Motorcycle deaths in Costa Rica continued their upward trend for the fifth consecutive year. Between 2020 and 2024, deaths occurring at the scene of the emergency increased by around 135%.
The statistics come from analyzing the official data from the Dirección General de la Policía de Tránsito (DGPT) – Policia de Transito and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT).
In 2020, the “hammer” measures and the “health vehicle restriction” were carried out at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, where during the night and early morning hours throughout 2020, 2021, and 2022, vehicles were restricted from driving on the road in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
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As the measures were relaxed, traffic accidents began to increase. In 2021, 184 motorcyclists died on the scene of a collision. In 2022, the period in which all existing restrictions were lifted, the death toll was 230.
Statistical records
Statistical records continued to be broken in 2023 when the number of motorcyclists killed at the scene of the accident reached 253.
For 2024 deaths of motorcyclists reached 271, setting the record for the highest, according to official data.
That is, for every 10 deaths that occurred on the road during the previous year, a motorcyclist was involved, which for the authorities represents a wake-up call regarding road safety in the country.
“We must focus on that to find strategies, sanctions, and education that allow us to slow down or reverse the figures, behind which there are family tragedies, mourning, economic impact, orphanhood, widowhood, mothers and fathers with deep pain,” said the director of Transito, Oswaldo Miranda.
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Miranda emphasized that the highest number of road accidents occur between 6:00 om and 6:00 am, and the time slot where of the deaths on the roads is of motorcyclists.
According to the DGPT, 37% of the motorcyclists who died throughout 2024 did not have a driver’s license.
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