The Top 5 Offences Drivers Get Done for During the Summer

Summer’s here, a greater number of drivers are on the roads and hopefully everyone has more time to get out and about and have fun. It is also during the hottest months of July and August that the Guardia Civil step up their safety campaign on the roads and are even more vigilant when it comes to safety regulations.

According to Tráfico, last summer a total of 8.1 million car journeys were carried out on our roads. There were 200 car accidents and 225 people lost their lives as a result.

In a bid to reduce the number of accidents, the DGT has put harsh sanctions in place. These are particularly punishing for the infractions that are repeated the most, some of which are detailed below.

Speeding

As much as 39% of all drivers fail to adhere to the speed limits in this country. For those that are caught, they face a sanction that ranges from 100 euro to 600 euro. A severe offence can result in the loss of up to 6 points from your license.

Alcohol and drugs

Between 6 and 12 June this year, a total of 2,283 drivers were reported by the Guardia Civil for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is after 145,636 tests were carried out. The majority tested positive for alcohol (1,616), while 667 were found to have driven with drugs in their system. With regards to the sanctions, those that were caught driving under the influence of alcohol were fined a minimum of 500 euro and lost 4 points from their license, although the most severe fines reached 1,000 euro and 6 points. For drugs, offenders received sanctions of 1,000 euro and lost between 4 and 6 points.

Mobile phone

This is one that you see on a daily basis yourself while driving around, and when people say that they’ve never broken the law; they probably have. This year, the DGT decided to install 150 new state-of-the-art technology radars that are capable of detecting whether a driver is talking on his mobile phone whilst in motion. This type of infraction is punished with a 200-euro sanction and 3 points from your license.

Driving wearing flip-flops

Although this may be an instinctive action during the summer, one that you do without even thinking twice about, it is actually illegal to drive a vehicle wearing flip-flops or any type of footwear that doesn’t do up at the back. This is obviously for safety reasons, as your shoe could slip off at any time and impede the correct use of the car’s pedals, therefore causing an accident. It is also prohibited to drive barefoot, or without wearing a T-shirt, as the latter could cause serious burns to the skin during an accident. Any of these three infractions could lead to a fine of 200 euro and the loss of 3 points from your driving license.

Vehicle maintenance

If your car is not kept in tip-top condition, you could be faced with a fine of 200 euro. Examples include lights not working, poorly visible license plate, worn down types or an out-of-date ITV sticker.

Source: www.eleconomista.es