The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) launches a new control campaign. On this occasion, he focuses on speeding, the direct cause of 20% of fatal traffic accidents in our country. In addition, the probability of dying or suffering permanent serious injuries in an accident increases when driving at high speeds, either above the permitted limits or not adapted to the weather conditions or the road itself. Inappropriate speed is the third most common contributing factor in traffic accidents, especially those with fatalities, with more than 251 cases in 2022.
Between April 17 and 23, the organization headed by Pere Navarro, as well as those local police forces that join this initiative convened at a European level, will carry out specific surveillance tasks in those sections of risk associated with speed, as well as as well as in those points where circulation is carried out above the established limit and there is a high accident rate.
In addition, taking into account the preventive nature of the campaign, the existence of controls will be announced to drivers through variable message panels or circumstantial vertical signage, when the road does not have said panels.
Penalties for speeding carry a fine of 100 to 600 euros and deduction of up to 6 points from the driver’s license. It all depends on how much the allowed limit is exceeded. Likewise, it should be remembered that in the most extreme cases it can also be considered a crime against road safety and, therefore, is punishable by jail.
Article 379.1 of the Penal Code determines that if the driver exceeds the speed allowed by 60 km/h on urban roads and 80 km/h on interurban roads, he will be “punished with a prison sentence of three to six months or a fine of six months.” to twelve months or with work for the benefit of the community from thirty-one to ninety days, and, in any case, with the deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for a period of more than one and up to four years.â€
According to the study Speed, the silent scourge. Speeding in fatal accidents in Spain (2011 – 2020), prepared by the LÃnea Directa Foundation in collaboration with the Institute of Traffic and Road Safety of the University of Valencia (INTRAS), more than a million drivers confess to having circulated above 200 km/h on interurban roads and another 2.4 million say they have done it at more than 100 km/h in the city. This means that some 3.5 million Spaniards could have committed a crime against traffic safety.
Compliance with regulations in Spain varies depending on the type of road. This is indicated by the results of the European Baseline Project, a road safety program in which 18 countries have participated. While on the highway 63% of passenger cars circulate at the permitted speed (high value compared to other countries), on highways this percentage drops to 51%. In the case of conventional roads, compliance with the established speed limit is 43%, a low level, similar to that registered by Belgium (46%).
On urban roads with a 50km/h limit, the level of speed compliance by passenger cars is 65%, the third highest value of the 13 countries with which we share a limit. For its part, on 30 km/h streets, the level of compliance is 32%, the highest value of the three countries for which data is available.
