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New Spanish driving laws from 9th of May


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Just seen this and thought is might be useful to some on here (taken from http://legal4spain.com/new-spanish-traffic-laws-come-in-to-effect-on-9-may-2014/ )

On the grounds that ignorance of the law is no excuse, all drivers in Spain are advised immediately to familiarise themselves with the detail of the new traffic laws which are coming into effect on 9 May 2014 (Ley 6/2014 modificando la Ley sobre Tráfico, Circulación de Vehículos a Motor y Seguridad Vial 339/1990); a mere 21 pages!

Among the new provisions are the following:

1. Speeding fines apply for exceeding the limit by just 1kph! On some motorways, the speed limit is being increased from 120kph to 130kph, but in many towns, the speed limit is being reduced from 30kph to 20kph.

2. If the Guardia Civil observe a motoring offence and note the vehicle registration number, this provides sufficient evidence to prosecute- no need for them to stop vehicles.

3. A minimum fine of 1,000 Euros will be payable by drivers caught driving whilst double the drink drive limit or above; or in all cases for reoffending drink drivers; and drivers under the influence of drugs.

4. The Guardia Civil can seize any vehicle carrying children without legally compliant child seats.

5. The very specific rules as to where children must sit in the vehicle (according to age/ height) must be observed, otherwise drivers face heavy fines.

6. Cyclists under 16 years of age must wear helmets.

7. Drivers have much higher duties to ensure the safety of cyclists of all ages.

8. Speed camera/ radar detectors are prohibited.

9. An EU Directive is to be implemented so that driving offences committed in one EU country are reported to the EU country of registration of the vehicle in question.

10. Much stricter rules are being implemented for the Spanish registration of foreign registered vehicles kept in Spain.

The above is by no means exhaustive. As can be seen, the new rules are far reaching. Knowledge of the details and observation of the requirements in practice is of fundamental importance.

It is clear from the increased powers to prosecute and fine drivers, that the Spanish Authorities mean business with these important legal changes.

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Is it just me that thinks 3,4 and 6 are pretty damn sensible? Although why cyclists older than 16 should get away without helmets I don't know.

Actually, 1 is quite good too - faster on motorways, slower round towns, seems far too reasonable.

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These tighter speeding laws are fantatsic, no manufacturer builds a speedo capable of measuring or complying with this!!!!!

They all do - speedos over-read but cannot under-read*.

* - Unless broken, or you've fitted the wrong tyres, or made by Lucas.

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Well I guess with the speeding laws it will stop people treating the speed limit as the speed you travel at and make it be the limit once more, no wondering quite how much you can go over it before getting a tug.

Anyway, the laws are what they are, so any of us planning on driving through Spain will have to comply.

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Whats it all about ? Revenue thats what as they are just about broke !

thats why they are so anti the scots having a referendum , and will block their EU entry , as their most prosperous region wants independence .

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I think 1 kph is a bit of a money spinner but I did hear a guy moaning he was caught at 1 mph over in a 30. 31 ? That's a bit harsh. No, 34 but you get 10% and I was only 1 mph over that.......

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20kph is too slow in a town, it's the old bridge theory, keep saying the bridge is lower to reduce the accidents, until no-one pays attention. 30kph, or 40kph or short sections of relevant areas at 20kph would be more likely to be observed.

Interesting about the noting of a rego being enough and no stop, the thing is, assuming innocent until guilty, how do you remember about what you were doing at 14:23 30 days ago when you didn't get pulled over?

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20 kph is incredibly slow, I could understand that in tiny villages where the roads are built for horse and cart but anything approaching a normal size town it would seem very slow, it's also well within the speeds of all but the most geriatric of cyclists so you wonder if they will have to stay within 1kph of it?

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I manage to build up queues behind me in a 30 limit and even longer ones in our 20 limits (which most bus drivers or police cars fail to observe) so a 20k limit will have cyclists passing you sticking their fingers up.

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Tick over 2nd gear is 20kph in my Disco.

Don't panic, it is not just Spain getting tighter, I got 2 speeding tickets from Holland last month so sending them over the borders is already here!

It is all in aid of the purse, don't be fooled by pleadges of safety concerns, the horse world is getting a right hammering right now from official bodies, no competition bans as a means of ensuring they get their houses in order, just fines on the spot, wonders never cease, how creative will they get to relieve us of our cash I wonder?

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Speed margins so small are just an excuse for taking our money.

If you have a clearly visible police car all drivers will slow down when seeing it. If you hide it, speeding drivers will be a danger in the road because they will not be stoped and will recive the fine by post.

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Modern speedos and IVA speedos may only read fast for safety (even though a recent chech allegedly showed that a lot of moderns incl BMW read slow at low speeds) my comment was due to the C&U regs (in my day) only requiring +- 7% accuracy this makes any tolerance tighter than that unmeetable.

When I lived in Holland some years back the only way locals kept tp speed limlts was to drive well under it as they all carped themselves in case they accidentaly breached it. Sorry but that is not how to manage traffic.

The A10 (IIRC) ring road around Amsterdam had 2 Gatso's one small section of our M25 has 120!

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Mrs. Nigelw lives in Weert, I travel up the night before my day off, in Belgium roads to the Dutch border there are 3 gatso's, over the border and only 47 of my 102km trip there are 14, the ring road in Weert has them everywhere! And now the majority is turning to these fancy average speed type cameras so even having a Coyote is becoming pointless :(

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i believe that 20k limits are a little rediculous. thats 16mph.

how many poeple would loose concerntration and just go into a tunnel daze at 16mph? making things worse, at least if you are travelling at 30mph plus you are going to be much more observant. same reason you would be really careful with an angle grinder with no guard, because it is knowingly more dangerous you pay more attention.

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We have 20 mph round here and that's fine although I do use cruise control and that won't engage below 20mph. I don't mind going slow in towns. Kid runs out at point blank range between parked cars going to take hell of a knock from a land rover.

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We have 20 mph round here and that's fine although I do use cruise control and that won't engage below 20mph. I don't mind going slow in towns. Kid runs out at point blank range between parked cars going to take hell of a knock from a land rover.

20kph though is only 12mph!

Chris

Arguably a human can run into a parked car faster than 12mph ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I find it interesting nobody has commented on the fact that they can ticket without informing you of the violation. So if you lose a signal bulb you can end up arriving home to hundreds of tickets for the same item that one warning would have you at the side of the road swapping in a new bulb.

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