| Nederlands | Path: Home / Country list / Children's crossings in depth / in Costa Rica |
Children's crossing in Costa Rica |
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| Cañas; V.1999; pict. E. Kuijken & C. Verscheure | Alajuela - Sta Elena; II.2005; pict. F. Tjollyn | |
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| Children are astronauts, I would say.
But I'm not Von Däniken and although children sometimes behave like extra-terrestrials I —being a roadsign scientist— should try for more ordinary explanations. We are looking at children walking home after a day at school. They must have a very enthousiastic teacher —Such people do exist, you know— and they suffer from what I also felt after a dayload of interesting facts I now sometimes wish I had listened to: a head at the brim of explosion. |
The design shows more evidence of a system focussed too much on memory-fatting. Look at the arms:
how thin they are, badly in need of exercise. I tell you, these children spend too much time
at their desk. There are more countries who should find a healthier balance between body and mind:
Argentina, Chile, Ecuador.
Countries all over the world have different views about the maximum speed which gives children a reasonable chance to escape. Find a short list at our page about Australia (range from 20 to 90 kms!). |
| Alajuela - V. Poas; II.2005; pict. F. Tjollyn |
Alajuela - Sta Elena; II.2005; pict. F. Tjollyn |
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Costa Rica now also plants signs which are of the worst kind: brainless button-heads
straight from North-America.
The children at the top row are monstrosities, I do agree,
but they are at least localised monsters.
A country with such nice warnings for a pedestrian crossing should be able to apply the same high standards for its children's crossings. But no. |
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In Costa Rica —like elsewhere— Children like to play alone and are then almost exclusively boys.
In the mind of roadsign designers girls belong to the kitchen. Period.
Children on road signs limit themselves to a very small set of options. Children in Alaska are just running. In Austria girls are running together with their pet dog, and in Canada, Chile & Argentina the boys are playing with a ball. In Costa Rica a new toy is introduced: a hoop, a hula hoop. Was this sign manufactured
at the end of the 1950s when the hoop was immensely popular?
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| II.2007; pict. H. Van Herck & L. Demarest | |
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An old and weathered sign reminescent of discoveries from Croatia and Cambodja. | 
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| 14.XII.2009; pict. A. Klaver |
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| More road signs from Costa Rica: Men at work - Falling Rocks |