Photo by Pinar Istek

Nina Arias, who lives in the Nosara area, related how someone almost crashed into her recently coming up the hill from The Village business center.  The driver was in a rental car, leading her to believe that it was a tourist who either doesn’t know the local driving rules or doesn’t care.  “They were going full speed and didn’t stop at the top of the hill.  I had to swerve to avoid getting hit,” she said. 

The incident led her to post a call to action on her Facebook page, asking for stop signs to be installed. In response, the post received 16 comments, most within a few hours. “Every day somebody’s driving crazy here.  It would be wonderful to see the stop signs in numerous places,” she told VON. 
 
Dionisio Chaves Castellon, chief of the transit police for Nicoya, noted that when a speed limit isn’t posted, the maximum speed should be 60 kilometers per hour. He admitted that the transit police rarely visit Nosara because of the condition of the roads and recommended that a local organization should contact Jose Miguel Calvo, official of the regional engineering department of MOPT in Liberia, to request a study for vertical demarcation (installing signs such as speed, stop, yield and school zone signs). 

Coincidentally, the Asociacion de Desarrollo Integral de Nosara (Nosara Integral Development Association) is working on exactly that.  Marco Avila, president of the association, said they are requesting speed bumps and signs from Esperanza to Nosara and hope to meet with engineers in early February.

Humberto Aguirre Garcia, in charge of one shift of the tourist police in Guiones, said that “in reality accidents are very few, but there are a ton of imprudences” committed by drivers in the area.  He related that one recent accident took place at the end of December near the L'Acqua Viva Resort And Spa when a foreigner ran off the road at a tight curve, fortunately only receiving bumps. 

He noted that the transit police generally only come to the area when a big accident happens, but said the tourist police are trying to coordinate operatives with the transit police to bring them to the area.

More community news Hamilton Ruiz: Educator at Heart and Politician by Profession At 71, former councilman, legislator and ambassador Hamilton Ruiz Cascante is still active in the community, although from a place with a less public profile. “Don Hamilton,” as he is known in the city of Nicoya, was born on a hot December 11th in 1941 in Lagunilla of Santa Cruz. Man Captured in Nosara for Sexual Abuse Charge On Tuesday, February 19, the Nosara Public Force collaborated in the capture of a man with last names Palacio Palacios who was accused of sexual abuse of a handicapped minor in Liberia. Change Seeks to Speed Up Traffic Flow in Nicoya The project to change the direction of traffic in Nicoya, which initiated in 2010, is now in advanced stages. These changes would make entering and leaving the downtown area of the city by vehicle easier.   Funds Raised by Samara Fiestas Reduced by Unfulfilled Contract The fiestas held from December 27th to January 1st raised about 5 million colones ($10,000) to support community projects, but the figure could be almost 3 million colones ($6000) more if a contractor from Liberia would pay up, estimated Emilse Steller Ramirez, Treasurer of the Samara Progressive Association. Nosara Center’s Aqueduct Lacks Functional Sanitary Permit The Ministry of Health is giving the Nosara ASADA until February 21, 2013 to comply with the sanitary order issued on January 9 to obtain the functional sanitary permit. This order is the result of the physical sanitary inspection conducted on November 16 as a result of suspicion that the water was causing symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting suffered by students at Serapio Lopez School.   John Fraiser Building in Nosara Center Will Be Repaired The Ministry of Health ordered the urgent repair of the five-story building located in the center of Nosara.