The government of the Road Safety Council (Cosevi) is analyzing the option of requiring a driver’s license for drivers of bicycles with electric or gasoline assistance. The resolution is about the expansion of this type of vehicle in the country, specifically in the food delivery sector. .
Cindy Coto, director of Cosevi, said that the order is progressing and that there is already a technical report. Currently, these cars are with a driver’s license, technical inspection, speed limits or licenses. Motorized or assisted bicycles flood the country’s streets, raising road safety considerations.
The phenomenon has been spreading for several years, but in recent months its presence has been felt at traffic lights, in the streets, in parking lots and in rural areas, where means of transport are being installed.
They are “camouflaged motorcycles with pedals” and, as such, will have to be regulated to avoid fatal accidents, according to Roy Rojas, former director of assignment of the Road Safety Council. In essence, the law states that if a two-wheeled vehicle has pedals, it cannot be considered a motorcycle.
The expansion of motorized or electrically assisted bicycles is partly due to the increase in delivery platforms, which have become popular in recent years as a source of work. The affordable price of those vehicles, some as low as 300,000¢, makes them a reasonable mobility option. option.
This factor has been analyzed for years, but its social impact has not been resolved, according to the technical report in question. On the other hand, Costa Rica is facing a road protection crisis with high rates of road accidents.
In 2022, the country recorded another 847 people killed by accidents, rollovers or speeding, and in 2023 this figure rose to 855, according to statistics from the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ). Half of the deaths at the scene were other people traveling on two-wheelers. The differences
“Right now we are living in a silent epidemic. Deaths are emerging and nothing the State has done so far has controlled to involve them,” said David Gómez, Sustainable Mobility consultant. Any vehicle equipped with pedals cannot be a motorcycle. and, therefore, no license, technical inspection or permit is required, according to the MOPT.