Speeding is the most common offense and the one that generates the most fines in Spain. According to the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), two out of every three sanctions imposed on interurban roads are directly related to this factor. To control and try to prevent this type of behavior from occurring, there are a large number and variety of radars on the roads of our country.
Many drivers wonder when exactly the radars go off. And it is that these devices always leave a margin of error because, despite being technologically very sophisticated, they cannot guarantee a 100% accurate measurement. Thus, they apply a tolerance threshold to ensure that they do not issue unfair complaints.
In recent years, the DGT and the Civil Guard have explained to the public through social networks that the so-called rule of 7 is used as a tolerance threshold. This means that when the permitted speed is less than or equal to 100 km/h, the radar is activated when the maximum limit is exceeded by 7 km/h. Thus, on a road limited to 50 km/h, the radar jumps when exceeding 57 km/h. Or on a road whose limit is 90 km/h, you must fine when you exceed 97 km/h.
On the other hand, when a radar measures speeds greater than 100 km/h -highways and highways-, the tolerance threshold that is applied and, therefore, is discounted, is 7%. In other words, in a section limited to 110 km/h it should not be activated until it exceeds 117.7 km/h, while on a road with a 120 km/h limit, the radar has to jump from 128.4 km/h.
However, current regulations, approved in 2020, set lower error margins, which vary depending on the type of kinemometer. The details are specified in Order ICT/155/2020, of February 7, which regulates the metrological control of the State of certain measuring instruments.
The text indicates that the new fixed speed cameras, the static ones (those that are placed on a tripod or a stationary car) and the section speed cameras, are approved with a maximum margin of error of 3 km/h when measuring speeds of up to 100 km/h. h and 3% when said rate is exceeded. In the case of mobiles (those installed in a moving vehicle), the threshold is 5 km/h and 5%. Finally, in those that are mounted on aircraft (such as the Pegasus helicopter) it is 5 km/h or 5%.
In addition, the maximum margin of error of a radar can change after a year of its commissioning. This is because all cinemometers are required to undergo a periodic annual review, and the margins defined to pass it are different from those applied in the approval phase. The fixed and static ones go from 3 km/h and 3% to 5 km/h and 5%, while the mobile ones go from 5 km/h and 5% to 7 km/h and 7%. On the other hand, those of stage and those of helicopter keep the same limits.
DGT sources have confirmed to this medium that all their radars are governed by the rule of 7 and not by the maximums established by current regulations. “The margin of error of 7 km/h and 7% is maintained in all types of cinemometers” and, “for now, it is not on the table to change it”, they have expressed. Therefore, they should not fine us below the threshold of 7.
A decision that Traffic already made in 2015, when they opted to “unify the tolerance threshold with which the radars act, so that the citizen knows the speed at which they begin to penalize.” Thus, the margin is the most “guarantee” for drivers, taking into account that the DGT uses cinemometers of different generations and with different precision, with margins of error ranging from 3 km/h and 3% to 7 km/h. h and 7%.
Of course, it is convenient not to relax and hurry too much with the speed limit when a radar is exceeded. And it is that, although from Traffic they defend that they use the rule of 7, if for any reason we receive a sanction that does not respect this threshold, we will not always be able to appeal it.
For example, if a fixed radar gives us a fine for driving at 86 km/h in a section limited to 80 km/h, we will have no argument to appeal it, because, as we have seen, in these cases fixed cinemometers can legally penalize with the rule of 3 or 5 instead of the rule of 7.
Another circumstance is the one denounced by the president of Associated European Motorists (AEA), Mario Arnaldo, who warns that traffic cameras do not reduce the margin of error at all times. And he exemplifies the case: “Only the margin of 7% in the activation speed is respected”, that is, it will jump from 128.4 km / h. On the other hand, “when a car is fined by a radar and exceeds a speed that entails the withdrawal of points from the driving license, it is not respected. You always have to discount the margin of error at the speed indicated by the radar, and you don’t do itâ€.
Arnaldo explains that this is a situation that seriously harms the interests of motorists. And dozens of sentences prove him right. It defends that, when a vehicle is sanctioned at, for example, 152 km/h in a section limited to 120 km/h (infraction that supposes the loss of 2 points from the driving license), 7% is not subtracted to calculate its speed. In the hypothetical case of discounting, the driver would go from receiving a fine of 300 euros and 2 points, to one of 100 euros and 0 points, as shown in the following image. From Moveo we have consulted the DGT about these cases, but the agency has not made any assessment in this regard.
