Costa Rica Traffic Fines 2026: Every Fine in Colones and Dollars

Costa Rica traffic fines in 2026 run from about ₡26,000 (roughly $52) for minor offences up to about ₡363,000 (roughly $725) for the most serious ones. Every ticket falls into one of five categories, A to E, set by the traffic law. The amounts are recalculated every year, and for 2026 they actually went down slightly.

Below is the full 2026 table in colones and dollars. You’ll also find the tickets tourists actually get, why the speeding tables you find online are probably out of date, and what happens when the fine is attached to a rental car’s plate.

How do Costa Rica traffic fines work?

Fines are set by the Ley de Tránsito por Vías Públicas Terrestres y Seguridad Vial, Law No. 9078, which took effect in 2012. The law doesn’t list a separate price for each offence. It sorts offences into five categories in articles 143 to 147. Category A, the most serious, is in article 143, and category E, the least serious, is in article 147. Every offence in a category carries the same fine.

Some offences also carry license points. Others let the officer take the vehicle’s plates or tow the car. Points mostly matter for Costa Rican license holders. For a tourist on a foreign license, the money and the hassle with the rental company are the real consequences.

The amounts are updated each year. The formula is built into the law and tied to economic indicators. That is why the exact figures have centimos on them and why they change every January. The full law text is on the government’s legal database, SCIJ (pgrweb.go.cr).

Costa Rica traffic fines 2026: the full table

These are the 2026 amounts MOPT announced. The dollar figures use roughly ₡500 per US$1. The exchange rate moves, so check the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) rate on the day you pay. Expect a small surcharge on the final bill as well. It is earmarked for the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and is commonly reported as 2.6%.

The speeding rows come straight from MOPT’s own published breakdown, so they are the most reliable part of this table. For other offences, the category can depend on the exact wording of the article. Our examples are what is widely reported. Before you argue a specific ticket, check the official offence list on COSEVI’s website (csv.go.cr).

Why did fines go down in 2026?

All five categories dropped slightly compared with 2025. Category A fell by about ₡800 and category E by about ₡57. That’s unusual, and it doesn’t mean the police are going easy. It’s simply the result of the annual recalculation formula. The difference is pocket change: a speeding ticket is still a dinner-for-four kind of expense, not a coffee.

The practical lesson is to expect slightly different numbers in 2027. If you’re reading this after January, check COSEVI for the current year’s table.

How much is a speeding ticket in Costa Rica?

Speeding is the most common ticket tourists get. Here is how it breaks down as of 2026:

• 20+ km/h over the limit: category D, about ₡61,000 (~$121)
• 30+ km/h over, or 25+ km/h over in a school zone: category C, about ₡123,000 (~$245)
• 40+ km/h over: category B, about ₡245,000 (~$490), plus license points
• Above 120 km/h anywhere: category A, about ₡363,000 (~$725), plus license points

At extreme speeds you move from a fine to a criminal matter. Reports put the threshold at above 150 km/h. Verify the current threshold in the law, but frankly, if you’re doing 150 on a Costa Rican road, the fine is the least of your problems.

Police take speeding seriously for good reason. In the first half of 2026, authorities blamed speed for 115 of 330 road deaths, about 35%. More than 2,250 drivers were fined for speeding in those six months.

What are the speed limits?

Limits are lower than most North Americans expect. Highways like Route 27 and stretches of Route 1 top out around 80 to 100 km/h depending on the section. Many two-lane roads are 60 km/h. Towns drop to 40 km/h or less, and school zones are 25 km/h when the signs apply. The limit is often painted on the asphalt rather than posted on a sign, so watch the road surface too.

The tickets tourists actually get

After helping a lot of visitors sort out tickets, I’ve found the list is short and predictable:

1. Speeding on open highways. Most often this happens on the Costanera heading to Jacó and Manuel Antonio, and on the Route 1 straightaways in Guanacaste.
2. Overtaking across a double yellow line. This is category A, around $725. Stuck behind a truck on a curvy road like the one to La Fortuna, visitors pass where locals know not to. Officers sometimes wait exactly at the end of those long no-passing zones.
3. No seatbelt, including back-seat passengers. Everyone in the car must buckle up. This is commonly reported as category C (~$245).
4. Phone in hand while driving. This includes holding the phone to read Waze. Mount it on the dash. Phone use is widely reported as a category B fine.
5. Kids without a proper car seat. Rental companies rent seats, and the rules depend on age and height. See our Costa Rica car seat law guide.
6. Ignoring stop signs. Rural intersections often have an ALTO sign facing one direction only, and locals roll through them. Police don’t care what the locals do.
7. Driving in central San José on your restricted day. The weekday restricción vehicular applies to plates by their last digit inside the city’s ring-road area during working hours. Rental cars are not automatically exempt. Ask at pickup.

What about drinking and driving?

Alcohol limits are set by blood-alcohol concentration. The commonly cited thresholds are 0.50 g/L for regular drivers and 0.20 g/L for new and professional drivers. Above that you face a category A fine. Above roughly 0.75 g/L it becomes a crime that can carry jail time, and the car can be impounded. Verify the current thresholds before you rely on them. Better still, don’t drink and drive at all. Weekend roadblocks (operativos) with breathalyzers are common, especially on holiday weekends and on the roads out of beach towns.

What happens when you get a ticket in a rental car?

This is where visitors get confused, and sometimes overcharged. There are two ways a fine can reach you.

The officer stops you

The officer writes a boleta (ticket) in your name, using your passport and license. You get a copy. You do not pay the officer. You pay later through the official channels, usually at state banks such as Banco de Costa Rica or Banco Nacional. For some offences the officer can also remove the plates or have the car towed, which turns a bad afternoon into a bad day.

The ticket goes to the plate, not to you

The law allows tickets without the driver present (boletas impersonales), including camera-based ones. These tickets attach to the vehicle. The rental company finds them when it renews the car’s paperwork. The car can’t renew its annual circulation permit (marchamo) with pending fines, so companies always find out eventually.

That means a charge can show up on your card weeks or months after your trip, often with a handling fee added. Many rental contracts authorize this. Read the fine and administrative fee clause before you sign. You’ll find it near the deposit and insurance terms, which we cover in our TPL vs CDW insurance guide.

What to do if you get pulled over

1. Pull over safely to a spot where you aren’t blocking traffic. Turn on your hazards and stay in the car unless asked to get out.
2. Have your documents ready: passport (with the entry stamp), your home driver’s license and the rental contract. Our foreign license guide covers what counts as valid.
3. Be polite and ask what the offence was. “¿Cuál fue la infracción?” works. Ask the officer to write it on the boleta.
4. Never offer cash, and never accept a request for it. Real Tránsito officers don’t collect fines on the spot. Offering a bribe is a crime in itself, and a “pay me now and it goes away” offer is a red flag.
5. Get the officer’s name and badge number. They should be on the ticket. Check that your name, passport number and the plate are correct.
6. Photograph the boleta and the spot where you were stopped. A road sign showing the limit is helpful if you plan to contest.
7. Tell the rental company the same day, especially if the plates were removed. They’ll tell you how they handle payment.
8. Pay or contest quickly. The window to appeal to COSEVI is short. It’s commonly cited as about 10 business days, and the exact deadline should be printed on your ticket. Late payment adds interest.

Can you contest a Costa Rica traffic ticket?

Yes. Appeals go to COSEVI (Consejo de Seguridad Vial), not to the officer. You’ll need the ticket number, your ID and a written argument, ideally with evidence such as photos or GPS data. Your best chance of winning is a clear error: a wrong plate, a wrong date, an offence you can show didn’t happen, or an unsigned ticket.

Honestly, for a ₡61,000 category D ticket, most tourists pay it, because flying back for a hearing makes no sense. For a category A ticket (~$725) with a solid case, paying a local lawyer to handle the appeal can be worth it. Keep your Waze or Google Maps trip history. A timestamped speed log has helped people before.

How to avoid a ticket in the first place

• Drive the posted limit, especially through towns. The fine ladder starts at 20 km/h over, and town zones are where 40 becomes 60 without you noticing.
• Never pass on a solid line. Be patient behind trucks. Passing lanes appear on Route 27 and parts of Route 1.
• Mount your phone and set the route before you pull out.
• Check the car at pickup: the marchamo sticker should be on the windshield and the car’s documents should be in the glovebox. Driving without a current marchamo is a fine and can mean losing the plates. That’s the rental company’s responsibility, but it’s your afternoon that gets ruined.
• Buckle up everyone, back seat included.
• Budget extra time so you aren’t tempted to rush. Real drive times are longer than the apps say. Our road trip planner uses realistic times.

For the bigger picture on road rules, signs and local driving habits, start with our complete guide to driving in Costa Rica. If a stop turns into something worse, see what to do after a car accident.

Bottom line

As of 2026, Costa Rica traffic fines come in five flat amounts: about $725, $490, $245, $121 and $52. The amounts are recalculated every January, so ignore any table without a year. The tickets that catch tourists are predictable: speeding on open highways, passing on double yellow lines, phones and seatbelts. Never pay an officer in cash, photograph every boleta, and assume any fine on the plate will end up on your rental card with a fee attached. Drive the limit and be patient behind trucks, and you’ll almost certainly go home without a ticket.