Driving in Costa Rica is not bad in general, follows most of the same convetions as United States. Driving in San Jose can be intense, but in general, it is fine. On long trips to the coast or elsewhere, you need to be very alert to people passing you or others in oncoming traffic on blind hills and blind corners. I have had buses pass me on blind hills driving from Puntarenas.
I have never had an international driver license and it has not been a problem. I have been pulled over a couple of times, I was not given a ticket either time (just lucky I guess), I did not offer any bribe either, which they suggest you avoid.
Also, when leaving the rental car company be very alert. A popular scam there is for someone to punture your tires at a traffic light soon after leaving the rental car agency, then follow you until you realize your tire is flat. When you pull over, they offer to help and then rob you. Happened to me in summer of 2009, fortunately, I stopped at a fruit stand to buy fruit quickly after it happend and before my tire was even flat; someone else stopped to tell me they had seen the people in another car puncture my tire. I was very close to rental car agency, so I went to service station, refilled tire and then switched out car at rental office. I had heard about this scam, but this was the first time that anything close to this has happened to me in the 12 years I have been going to Costa Rica.
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