TEN THOUSAND TRAFFIC FINES PER DAY

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In response to a question raised by the parliamentary socialist group in congress, the Directorate General of Traffic, the DGT, issues an average of 10,800 fines for traffic offences, every single day.

The information was provided by the deputy of the DGT, Miguel Ángel Heredia, with data collated on a monthly basis between November 2011 and February 2013. That data showed a monthly average of 325,000 fines, equating to about 10,800 each day. As an example of value, given that speeding fines cost motorists between 100 and 600 euro each time, this equates to motorists being between one and six million euro out of pocket per day.

However, there seems to be less fines being issued over the whole length of the time monitored, as in February of this year there were only 210,924 fines issued, considerably lower than the monthly average, and nearly half, pro rata, of the 391,445 issued in May of last year.

Meanwhile, calls are being made to clamp down on motorists who play “Russian roulette” when it comes to speeding, in particular those who travel at excessive speed which would qualify as an offence against the penal code, rather than just traffic laws. In particular, those motorists who exceed 80 kilometres above the limit on motorways, i.e. at around 200 kilometres per hour, and those who travel at 60 kilometres per hour above the limit on normal roads, for example, those travelling at 110 kilometres per hour on a 50 road.

Between 500 and 600 motorists are convicted of these severe offences each year, but the DGT are fully aware that the number of motorists who break the law is far greater than those who are caught.

The chief prosecutor of road safety, Bartolomé Vargas, says that speeding of this level is playing “Russian roulette” that can bring “death at any time and drivers should never forget that”.

In a recent campaign, we reported that airborne radar Pegasus was able to capture drivers who exceed the speed limit up to five times more effectively than by conventional radar, and has been applauded for raising public awareness that these mechanisms “prevent accidents”.

“Radars avoid accidents, because the driver who is caught gets an early wakeup call that, in many cases, conditions their future driving behaviour”, said Vargas.

However, the prosecutor also emphasizes that “the vast majority” of drivers are “good” and that we must fight against this minority of “very dangerous” citizens, repeat offenders, or those who “have escaped the radar” or are indifferent to the penalties for the offences.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39012/

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