Typically streets in downtown areas alternate direction and if the previous intersection was one way to the left the road you’re approaching will be one way to the right. One way streets are very common and sometimes marked with an arrow showing the direction of travel or a sign saying “No Hay Paso” (do not enter). Red = go? | arrows | ceda | danger boots | going straight | stupid | lights & siren | spares One Way (Sentido Unico or Senso Unico) It still confuses the crap out of me and I take the next turn where the arrow is pointing even though I know it’s wrong and I should continue straight. In other words if the sign is on the right shoulder (actually in the big ditch on the right side of the road because there are no shoulders) then the arrow points to the left to indicate the road running past the sign is the one you want.Īnother theory is that a left pointing or right pointing arrow indicates which direction you will turn after you’ve driven another 15 km straight ahead. One explanation we’ve heard is that the arrow points at the road leading to your destination. Costa Rica has a different convention -arrows pointing left or right may mean straight ahead or left or right…Ī sign that has been corrected from the traditional Costa Rican standard (an arrow pointing to the left means straight ahead) to the international convention that an arrow pointing up means straight ahead. and elsewhere an arrow pointing up on a sign is used to indicate straight ahead. Left and right may be confused with straight ahead. Red = go? | arrows | ceda | danger boots | going straight | stupid | lights & siren | spares Arrows – Which Way is Up? Some say it’s because they know the repairs are very low quality and the road will be out again soon anyway…Īlso see “traffic light + stop sign” above… All over the country signs warn of bridges out, missing lanes and other hazards years after the damage has been repaired or replaced.
Red = go? | arrows | ceda | danger boots | going straight | stupid | lights & siren | spares Waste Not Want Not – Spare SignsĪnother thing you’ll soon notice is the highway department never wastes a perfectly good sign by removing it. Do not stop at a stop sign with a green light or you’ll probably be rear ended. When the light is green the stop sign seems to be reduced to the normal meaning of a yield sign.
#TICO MEANING DRIVERS#
When the light is red, and there is a stop sign present, drivers stop and wait for it to turn green before proceeding. Some cynics claim the highway department just didn’t bother to remove the stop sign when the light was installed but we believe the combination of devices carries a higher level of authority.
#TICO MEANING PLUS#
It is a traffic light PLUS a stop sign at the same intersection. Oddly the government seems to conspire in this behavior they have even invented a new traffic control that is used all over the country. Similarly, a red traffic light seems to mean pause then proceed if there is an opening – suspiciously like what drivers do at a stop sign in the rest of the world. In Costa Rica however this sign means slow down, proceed with caution, in other words the same thing that a yield sign means in the rest of the world. The octagonal red sign with “alto” printed on it translates as stop, and in some places that’s what drivers do when they encounter one. If you didn’t notice there is a traffic light and a stop sign. At first, intersections like this one are disconcerting. Red = go? | arrows | ceda | danger boots | going straight | stupid | lights & siren | spares Traffic Lights, Yield and Stop SignsĬheck out a few cars at a few corners and you soon catch on that traffic controls carry one less level of authority here.
#TICO MEANING CODE#
It doesn’t take long to realize that there is a different code of the road in Costa Rica – at least if you want to survive it better not take too long…