• User.The most fine radars in Spain
  • Evolution: In Spain there are already 1,301 radars

Among the many headlines that Pere Navarro left in his first stage at the head of the DGT, that phrase in the presentation of a fleet of camouflaged cars is remembered: «When the driver sees that deployment, the screen that says 'Stop, Civil Guard' , he will think: I screwed up.

Of that 14 years have passed and almost all Spanish drivers will have seen one of those vehicles operating. Thousands will have stopped. Discovering the other spy media with which Traffic has been reinforced in recent years is much more complicated. Because they watch us from hundreds of meters above our heads, others are tiny in size and can even disguise themselves as harmless vans. Everything is to end the bleeding of deaths in accidents while, no doubt, box is made.

helicopters and drones

The helicopters had been used to monitor traffic for years, but it was not until 2013 that they also controlled speed thanks to the Pegasus radar. There are 13 throughout Spain and, capable of fine a kilometer away from 300 meters high, they are large predators. Their problem lies in the cost: each hour of flight leaves for 1,500 euros, the cost of the radar apart. In 2018, 3,370 hours flew to impose some 20,000 sanctions.

On the other hand, each of the tiny and invisible drones that the DGT started using during Holy Week only costs 5,500 euros. They have a more limited range (500 meters) and are not approved - it seems difficult to achieve because of its size - to penalize for speed. Yes for everything else that can be recorded, although they are also used to help with traffic management. There are three that can fine, another eight just watch and the fleet will grow in another 20 units. His first sanctions arrived this month from the Canary Islands.

MINIRADARES AND CAMERAS

The crusade against excessive or inappropriate speed, a recurring factor in one third of fatal accidents, started in the mid-2000s. Then, there were 87 radars. This summer we are controlled by more than 1,300. There are them of portico, in cabins, of section, mobile and the most feared: those that can be installed in tripods or anchored, for example, to the guardrail or to the side of a vehicle. They are functionalities that perfectly fulfill the Velolasers. Released in 2018, they are almost invisible due to their small size but are very well equipped: they register speeds of up to 250 km / h and simultaneously control two lanes of different directions, such as those on secondary roads. In addition, they are portable and can be quickly changed position even on board motorcycles. A total of 60 units were purchased, each with a cost of 15,000 euros amortizable with 300 fines of 100 euros charged at 50% for prompt payment.

In addition, two years ago the DGT released the cameras that pilot those who do not wear a seat belt. There are already more than 200 in fixed locations that can be consulted on the Traffic website.

TRUCKS AND TRUCKS

Traffic has already rehearsed some time ago with a plane in the Canary Islands, where it does not have a Pegasus base, and has been researching new methods with a truck on the roads of Castilla y León since the end of last year; and with a van in Galicia, caught this summer. Both camouflaged vehicles - although with Civil Guard registration - and recognizable for carrying on board two uniformed agents.

Its mission is to ensure that distractions are not committed at the wheel, since these - especially those related to mobile - have become the leading cause of fatal accidents, with 32% of cases, ahead of inadequate speed (26%) or alcohol consumption (12%).

The choice of a truck or van is that its higher position allows better control of the occupants of other vehicles, with a wider view than from a tourist.

The project, which is still in the process of obtaining data, is not new. In the United Kingdom, this form of surveillance began to be used since 2016 and during the first two years it imposed more than 4,000 sanctions. Two thirds of them for using the mobile behind the wheel, although other behaviors such as makeup, eating or rolling cigarettes were also detected.

THE HALF OF THE FINES, BY SPEED

The obsession to control that you do not drive faster than is due or authorized has a noble purpose - that there are fewer people killed in an accident - but nobody is hidden from the hundreds of millions of euros that radars contribute to the coffers of the DGT. In addition, in an environment with a staff of Civil Guard Civil Traffic agents much lower than at the beginning of the decade.

For example, last year the Interior dependent agency imposed 2.3 million sanctions for speeding, which accounts for more than half of the total fines, although that percentage has reached almost two-thirds in some years.

In terms of total revenue from fines, the last correspond to 2017, with 376.1 million euros representing the lowest figure in the last five years. In addition, if until 2004 the DGT did not break the barrier of 200 million euros in revenue from fines, then it did not stop growing - as it was doing the deployment of radars - until reaching its maximum in 2009, with 466 million euros. Since then, there have been ups and downs in that amount.

By law, this money has to be used "to finance road safety, prevention of traffic accidents and help to victims", although an audit of the Court of Auditors referred to 2015 applies a strong corrective to the DGT because there is no The destiny of 10 of the 407 million collected that year was justified. The report, which was disclosed by El Confidencial, also includes a lag of 16.5 million that could not be justified in "the management of disciplinary proceedings, including resources and responses thereto".

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