Nicaragua - Rules of the Road
Traveling in Nicaragua is an extremely different experience versus driving in the US, and travelers and travelers must be aware of that previous to hitting the Nicaraguan countryside. As a universal law, there are only a couple of paved roads, mainly key highways, and even those are in poor order. Secondary roads, if you can even call them as that, are unpaved and uneven, filled with potholes and hindrances, dark, and have no shoulder.
Traveling across the countryside is done on the right-hand side, as it is in the U.S. Travelers are cautioned that when choosing to visit Costa Rica or the Honduras in the course of their stay in Nicaragua, they should cross the borders at the main border-crossing sites, Las Manos and Penas Blancas. Traffic laws are very diverse in the country as well. Motorists involved in a fender bender where a person is killed is instantly under arrest till the source of the accident can be discovered. You must never change a car involved in the accident till the police get there or the liability automatically lands on the person who changed the position of the car.
At a time when the government is financing money for infrastructure, consisting of upgrading roads and bridges, the rainy season continues to take its toll on the roads. Still the best roads in the nation have threats that can bring about an accident. Tourist to the nation are fiercely advised to carry insurance, be positive their car is in full compliance with Nicaraguan transit law and to continuously have a cell phone should your vehicle gets stuck has engine trouble in a rural area. Even better, visitors are advised to take on a trained driver familiar with the roads in the wilderness and let him ferry you everywhere. Never ride on a public transit bus, as they are in poor shape and riddled with lawbreakers.
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