It´s not often known for traffic authorities to praise the use of mobile phones, but for now, the DGT traffic department of Spain are doing just that, albeit not whilst you are driving.
In a press conference this week, the Minister for the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the Director General of Traffic, María Seguí, officially launched the summer 2013 road safety campaign, in their attempt to reduce incidents, accidents, stress and congestion on the country´s roads, as around 80 million trips are taken around Spain.
There will be a heightened campaign to crack down on some of the usual demons of road safety, with an increase in alcohol and drug checks throughout the summer, especially on secondary roads, as well as the usual speed, seatbelt and distraction campaigns which are running right through the year.
In order to facilitate the passage of information, therefore warning road users of problems in advance, the app, available on Android and iPhone devices, will send notifications of traffic problems around your location. It will also provide notifications about road works, and even tell you where fixed radar speed detectors are located, warning you of the increased chance in getting caught.
The app will not warn you of mobile or temporary speed checks though, you´re on your own for those. Drivers who use devices which warn of temporary radar traps face fines of up to 6,000 euro, and the potential loss of your license. Not only that, companies and individuals who install them face fines of up to 30,000 euro, or at least that will be the case once the new traffic act is approved.
There is also a direct link in the app so that, in the event of an emergency, the 112 coordination centre can be notified and called at the push of a button, simplifying and speeding up the process of requesting assistance.
The app can be found in the app store, just search for DGT, and you can download it to your device for free. The app is only in Spanish though, but it should be fairly easy to work out with a basic grasp of the language, just avoid anything that looks like it might want to call 112, unless you do have an actual emergency.
Meanwhile, the summer road campaign will see 38 million trips in July and another 42 million in August, with the first stage commencing on Friday the 28th of June, until the 4th of August, followed by stage two, which is from the 14th of August until the 18th, for both of these operations, the concentration is likely to be from inland, city based areas, heading towards the coastal zones.
Weekends throughout summer will be busier than normal of course, especially in tourist rich areas, but the final stage of the summer campaign, Operation Return, will be from the 30th of August until the 1st of September, with the concentration of traffic heading back from the coast towards the inland and city areas.
Pegasus will be out and about during key times, the air based radar detecting helicopter, which has proven itself to be more effective in catching speeding drivers, as well as the fixed and mobile detectors on the ground, largely, but not exclusively focusing on secondary main roads, rather than motorways, as, according to the minister, 208 of the 260 fatalities in July and August last year occurred on these roads, although there has been a 21% reduction in fatalities so far this year, thanks to their efforts.
Specifically, if you want to make notes in your diary, there will be a concentration campaign on drink and drugs from the 9th to the 15th of July, and speeding will be a priority for monitoring between the 19th and 25th of August, although officers will still be carrying out their usual levels of monitoring in between.
As for this weekend, the increase in traffic is set to start at 15:00 on Friday, gradually increasing throughout the weekend, with an estimated 5.2 million road trips between then and midnight on Sunday.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39618/
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