In 2023, Madrid City Council issued a total of 2,603,669 complaints for traffic violations, which represents an average of 7,133 complaints daily or 297 every hour, and collected 341,363,840 euros for this concept. This is reflected in the latest report prepared by the driver defense organization Associated European Motorists (AEA), which highlights that 10 streets in the capital accounted for half of the fines last year for accessing the city center without authorization.
The AEA report highlights that the complaints made by the Madrid council in 2023 have decreased by 3.6% compared to the previous year (2,603,669 compared to 2,702,125), although the amount of the sanctions has increased by 1.2% reaching a record turnover figure close to one million euros per day. According to the organization, this fact has been mainly due to the fact that infractions classified as minor have decreased (-13.8%), such as prohibited parking or in the SER zone, but infractions classified as serious have increased significantly (6, 7%) or as very serious (7.9%).
Of the total complaints made by the Madrid City Council in 2023, 721,534 were imposed for unauthorized access to Low Emission Zones (ZBE), which represents 27.7% of the violations registered that year. The number of complaints for entering the Central District ZBE increased by 19.8% compared to the previous year, with the particularity that 50% of all prohibited access to the area was concentrated in just five streets.
For the president of AEA, Mario Arnaldo, “the Madrid City Council would have to explain, first of all, why instead of reducing the fines for accessing the Central District without authorization, these are becoming more and more numerous.” Likewise, he believes that those responsible for mobility at the council should also consider why half of these infractions are concentrated in just five specific points in the capital.
On the other hand, complaints for accessing the Plaza Elíptica ZBEs have decreased by 53.8% (138,062 compared to 299,253) and for accessing the M-30 ZBEs, by 31.9%. Regarding this ring road, in 2023 the Madrid City Council made 34,082 complaints compared to 50,110 in 2022.
The AEA report reveals that the majority of infractions committed in the city of Madrid do not directly affect the road safety of citizens, but rather their mobility. In fact, 45.4% of the complaints made correspond to parking lots (1,182,471 complaints), while another 27.7% are about prohibited access to Low Emission Zones (721,534): Central District, Plaza Elíptica and inside the M-30 and the M-30 itself.
However, according to the AEA report, violations directly related to road safety have experienced a notable increase. For example, non-use of seat belts or child restraint systems (CRS) have increased by 27.2% and 33.8% respectively. Inappropriate use of mobile phones has increased by 16.2%, wrong-way traffic by 9.9%, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs by 4.7% and speeding by 7%. ,1%.
Regarding the value of the sanctions, the AEA report indicates that the average amount of fines imposed by the Madrid City Council in 2023 increased by 6 euros, going from €124.7 to €131.1. According to the report, this increase is mainly due to the increase in the commission of serious and very serious infractions, and especially to the increase in the amount of fines for accessing the Low Emission Zones of the Central District.
