The coach of FC Barcelona, ??Xavi Hernández, has been caught committing a serious traffic violation. In some images released by El Chiringuito on .
The images were captured on Monday, after the training that Xavi directed at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, in Sant Joan Despí, one day after Barcelona’s victory at Betis’s field, by 2-4. The journalists who were waiting for the players and coaches of the Barcelona team to leave were trying to get a statement from Xavi about the refereeing controversy on Sunday in the match that Real Madrid played against Almería at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
However, the cameras that were waiting to collect Xavi’s statements recorded an infraction classified as “serious” in the General Traffic Regulations. According to article 18.2, “the use of mobile telephone devices and any other means or communication system while driving is prohibited, except when the development of communication takes place without using the hands or using helmets, headphones or similar instruments.” .
The new Traffic and Road Safety Law that came into force on March 21, 2022 toughens the penalty for driving while holding a mobile phone in your hand. This is a serious violation that carries a fine of 200 euros and the loss of 6 points on your driving license. Before the modification of the Traffic Code was approved, this violation was also punishable by a fine of 200 euros, but only 3 points were deducted from the license.
In principle, Xavi Hernández will be freed from the fine because he was not reported by an agent of the authority and the infraction was also not recorded by a traffic control camera of the Barcelona City Council or the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT). This has been confirmed by SCT sources in Moveo.
These same sources, however, admit the possibility that any person, providing the relevant evidence, can file a complaint upon request against Xavi Hernández for driving with a mobile phone in his hand.
To do this, it is necessary that the person making the report identify themselves and document the violation with photographs or videos, so that the make, color, model and license plate of the vehicle can be seen, as well as the traffic sign or circumstance that show the violation committed. Likewise, it is necessary to indicate the place, date and time of the violation, and explain the event, as stated by RACE in its blog.
Now, the possibility that a complaint upon request will succeed will depend on the assessment made by the investigator of the file, because they have no probative value, explains Mario Arnaldo, president of Associated European Motorists (AEA), in a telephone conversation with this medium. “The investigator of the file and the sanctioning body have to evaluate the case with the evidence provided by the complainant. If the investigator of the file decides to notify the offender, he can present an allegation.”
“For example,” continues the AEA leader, “the person reported could claim that the images are not current, and it must be kept in mind that serious infractions expire after six months.”
Arnaldo recalls that, on the other hand, when videos of violations that are considered a crime against road safety are published on social networks, the competent traffic authorities can report the offender. This is the case of a cyclist who was reported by the SCT for reckless driving, after having caused an accident on a road in the province of Barcelona, ??whose images were recorded by a road user.