In just one month, 43 people have died in Costa Rican roads. The high number of deaths drove COSEVI to resume the yellow hearts campaign.
In 2004, COSEVI began to paint yellow hearts with a belt to ask drivers to use the safety device. In addition, hearts were painted with a halo, to remember those who lost their lives in the roads. After 11 years of campaigning, the institution analyzes the impact of the initiative and seeks to retake it.
We are assessing the scope of the campaign and defining the strategy to follow. We want to know which of the two types of signals impacted drivers the most and the idea is to re-paint hearts this year,”
said Executive Director Cindy Coto.
The institution also analyzes whether a company would be hired to paint the hearts or if they should coordinates with Traffic Engineer crews. In addition, they seek to avoid re-victimization.
It’s not just painting a heart on the street. It’s doing it at the right time. We are working on a care program for the relatives of traffic accidents’ victims. And we have seen that this symbol can also have a negative psychological effect if the accident is recent. For example, I cannot imagine painting a heart in the place where the cyclists died in Tres Ríos,”
added Coto.
Hearts are painted on emblematic routes. But there is not a heart for each death, since the roads would be stained in yellow.