Speed. Traffic will install 75 new radars in 2021
2019 data: the vulnerable are already more than half of those killed in accidents
Road Education Rounds: the dangerous subject that thousands of drivers fail
Videos. Mobile use accounts for 50% of complaints due to distractions
The battery of measures that the DGT has been outlining for about two years to reduce the accident rate enters its final stretch.
Today, the Council of Ministers today approved various actions with which it intends to
reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries in traffic accidents by up to 50% over the next decade.
In 2019 there were 1,755 deaths, with a reduction of 3%, although this was motivated by the decrease in road, highway and highway (6% less).
On the other hand, in the city, they increased by an identical percentage.
For most initiatives there is no effective date. Those relating to scooters will do so in January and those relating to city speed may already be underway next spring.
In fact, it is confirmed that it will be reduced to 30 km / h in streets with a single lane in each direction of traffic, which many populations already apply.
But they wanted to go a little further.
City: 20 km / when there is no sidewalk
Specifically, it has been approved to lower
the speed to 20 km / h on those roads with a single platform,
that is, where there is no separation between the sidewalk and the road.
In those with two or more lanes in each direction, the limit will remain at 50 km / h.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska,
these changes
in city speeds
"will not be applied until six months after publication in the BOE
so that citizens know them and municipalities have time to adapt the signage."
And that publication may be this month, so
its application could be mandatory as early as next spring.
Although it could have gone even further: in cities like Pontevedra, it has been approved that vehicles cannot go faster than 6 km / h when they share space with other users.
The second great novelty is within a
draft reform of the Traffic Law.
It is about ending the rule that allows the speed threshold on the road to be exceeded by up to 20 km / h when overtaking.
The Interior Ministry notes that no other EU country allowed it and that this change reinforces the message that these maneuvers "carry a risk of head-on collision."
It will be added to the change introduced in
January 2019, when the maximum speed on conventional roads was lowered from 100 to 90 km / h.
A modification that has been key to reducing the accident rate on conventional roads.
In 2019, 896 people were killed, 10% less, although they still represent almost 73% of all those who died on the interurban road.
Carrying the mobile in your hand will be 6 points less
In addition, the draft addresses the chapter on distractions, the leading cause of fatal accidents as it is a recurring factor in 28% of the total.
For this reason,
the points to be lost for "driving while holding mobile phone devices" will
be
increased from three to six.
That is, it will be enough to consult the screen, without having to talk or chat.
The financial sanction remains at 200 euros.
Likewise, statistics indicate that more than 20% of the people who die aboard a passenger car or a van do not wear a seatbelt, which is why it rises
from three to four points those who will be detracted by one using that element , or child restraint systems or helmet in the case of motorcyclists.
The same as if they are worn but poorly worn or not fastened.
Within this same package, the simple fact of
carrying a radar detector device in the car is considered a serious offense,
with a loss of three points and a penalty of 500 euros.
Currently, only its use is punished.
There is no date for the entry into force of all the changes contemplated in
the reform of the Traffic Law.
It still has to go back to the Council of Ministers, then to Congress, to the Senate and back to the lower house for final approval, and along the way, things can change.
Scooters, off the pavement no more than 25 km / h
The project approved by the Council of Ministers also settled the pending account that the legislators had regarding
Personal Mobility Vehicles.
In this category, which excludes those used by people with reduced mobility, would include all those "vehicles with one or more wheels equipped with a single seat and powered exclusively by electric motors that can provide the vehicle with a
maximum speed between 6 and 25 km / h ".
Basically the increasingly numerous scooters that flood cities.
To put an end to the jungle that many streets have become with their arrival,
their circulation is prohibited on the sidewalks and in the pedestrian areas.
They may not do so on interurban roads, crossings, as well as highways and highways that pass within the town or in urban tunnels.
And their drivers will have to comply with traffic regulations like other vehicles, so they can be subjected to breathalyzer tests and will not be able to use headphones when they drive them.
These standards will come into force on January 2, 2021,
although the circulation certificate that proves that they meet the technical requirements will not be required until two years after the DGT has the corresponding manual.
Driving trucks from the age of 18
The last big block deals with the driving license.
For example,
whoever is caught using unauthorized devices in an exam
will have to pay 500 euros and will not be able to re-present for six months.
In addition,
two points of the permit
may be
recovered by taking a safe driving course,
once the DGT specifies its requirements and conditions.
The reform also unifies in
two years the period without committing infractions to recover the initial balance of points
, a period that now varies depending on the seriousness of the infraction committed.
Finally,
passenger and freight transport companies will be able to find out
whether or not their drivers have a valid permit.
But only that, not the sanctions that have been imposed.
These three initiatives are included in the reform of the Traffic Law.
Others are within a modification of the General Vehicle Regulations and will begin to operate the day after their publication in the BOE.
This is the rule that lowers
the minimum age to drive trucks and coaches
from
21 to 18 years
(in this case, without passengers and within a maximum radius of 50 km);
or the one that
raises from 3,500 kg to 4,250 kg the weight of vans for the transport of goods that can be handled with a car license,
only when this increase is due to new alternative propulsion systems such as vehicle batteries 100 % electric.
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