• Data from 2019: The vulnerable are already more than half of those killed in a traffic accident

  • Advancement: DGT's measure to avoid thousands of resources

  • Balance: Deaths in accidents fall in 2020 less than trips

The DGT intends that, when overtaking a cyclist, drivers redouble their caution in a particularly delicate maneuver.

Therefore, in addition to requiring a lateral distance of at least 1.5 meters, the vehicle will have to reduce its speed by at least 20 kilometers with respect to the maximum of the road on which it is circulating

.

This would mean on a conventional road, doing it at a maximum of 70 km / h.

According to the Marca Cars portal, it was announced by the General Director of Traffic, Pere Navarro, in a discussion organized by the Executive Forum with the collaboration of Abertis Autopistas and Indra.

The objective is that the new regulation, which will be part of a Royal Decree that will modify the current Law on Traffic, Vehicle Circulation and Road Safety, comes into force this year.

And his non-compliance, he assured, will be classified as a serious offense and will be punished with a fine of 200 euros and the loss of 3 points in the driving license.

The three rules that currently exist

Until now, there are three rules that govern when overtaking a cyclist or a group of them.

You must

leave a lateral separation of not less than 1.50 meters.

The solid line can be crossed if necessary,

although to do so it is necessary to occupy the part of the road reserved for the opposite direction, after having made sure that the maneuver can be carried out without danger.

And it is

expressly forbidden to overtake endangering or hindering cyclists traveling in the opposite direction

(even on the shoulder).

The introduction of this fourth rule announced now aims to promote safe behaviors behind the wheel and reduce reckless or aggressive behaviors, since

some drivers, instead of reducing speed before overtaking a cyclist, accelerate sharply, even exceeding the permitted speed limits

and putting the cyclist and other drivers in danger.

In 2020, 36 cyclists died in road traffic accidents, only 10% less than the previous year, making it the group in which the accident rate decreased the least compared to the 2019 figures.

In addition, in 2019 and with definitive data including city and deaths within 30 days, the so-called vulnerable users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle and moped users) for the first time were more than half of the deaths in traffic accidents: 53% of the total, by 47% of those who travel aboard a vehicle with four or more wheels.

"For this reason, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, told us: 'Put your batteries together and do something to deal with this problem,' assured the Traffic Director, Pere Navarro.

Without leaving the conventional roads, to this measure, the director of

the DGT also wants to add a new one this year, much more controversial: to end the rule that allows the maximum speed to be exceeded by 20 km / h when overtaking another vehicle.

They claim that head-on crashes will thus be avoided and that no other country in Europe allows such a thing.

Instead, motorists believe it will make overtaking longer and longer, thus less safe.

And that behind the initiative is avoiding thousands of resources for fines in section radars.

Something that the DGT itself admits.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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