The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) assures that inadequate speed is the third most common concurrent factor in traffic accidents, especially in those with deaths. According to their data, collected in the 24 hours after the accident, in 2023 there were 211 fatal accidents in which this factor was present.
It is worth emphasizing that driving at excessive speed is not the same as driving at an inappropriate pace. For example, although you can legally go 120 km/h on a highway, it would be dangerous to do so in adverse weather conditions or with the pavement in poor condition. In these cases, even if you drive within what the regulations establish, the risk of accident increases. Another thing is to exceed established limits, behavior that also entails danger and is punishable.
To control this type of infractions, Traffic has more than two thousand radars in Spain, which will increase over three years with the installation of 150 additional fixed devices. Of them, 88 will be placed this same 2024, mostly on conventional roads because they account for seven out of every ten fatal accidents.
Furthermore, as reported by the organization directed by Pere Navarro, 60% of these new speedometers will be section speed meters, that is, those that calculate the average speed of each vehicle between two kilometer points on a road. According to statements made by Ana Blanco, deputy deputy director of Traffic at the DGT, to the magazine Tráfico y Seguridad Vial, these devices are “the most effective.”
And how do they work? One device reads the vehicle license plate at the beginning of the controlled section and another does the same at the end. Based on the time it took the vehicle to pass through both points, the system calculates the average speed at which it traveled. If it exceeds the maximum allowed -removing the margin of error applied-, the driver will be penalized for having exceeded the speed.
As can be seen in the attached table, the fine and the deduction of points varies depending on how much the allowed figure has been exceeded. It starts from a minimum of 100 euros without the loss of points that increase depending on the speeding: 300 euros and 2 points, 400 euros and 4 points, 500 euros and 6 points and, finally, 600 euros and 6 points , which is the maximum.
To dissuade and control drivers who press the accelerator pedal too much or open the motorcycle’s throttle too much, the DGT has activated a specific campaign that will last until Sunday, April 21. This action is carried out at European level by the RoadPol association (European Roads Policing Network), so that surveillance is also carried out in other countries.
The agents will especially control sections of risk associated with speed, as well as those points where traffic exceeds the established limit and there is a high accident rate, all following the recommendations of international and European organizations that urge the agencies in charge of road safety of the different countries to ensure that the established speed limits are complied with.
The DGT will announce to drivers the existence of controls, either through variable message panels or through circumstantial vertical signage when the road does not have such panels.
