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In the last three years, 42 people have died in Spain from being run over when they had to get off to signal their vehicle, stopped on the road due to a breakdown or incident.

Minimizing this type of accident is what the Roadside Assistance Regulations, which

come into force on July 1,

seek to

increase the safety of crane operators and assistance services.

And on the other, it will allow the so

-

called

V-16 light

to be used

instead of the traditional triangles.

Although

not all emergency lights work

since they

have to be approved

and there are, in addition, they can notify the emergency services.

WHAT IS THE V-16 LIGHT?

The

V-16 lights

are, according to Spanish regulations, those that serve to pre-signal an incident of the vehicle.

The ones that have been used since 1999 are triangles.

What has been approved now is that they be replaced by a luminous beacon, which is the new V-16 signal.

From July 1, their use will be allowed, instead of or in combination with the triangles, but it will not be until

July 2026 when the latter disappear and the beacon must be used.

What is intended is to avoid is the madness that was experienced, due to lack of supplies with the first months of use of the triangles.

HOW DOES THE EMERGENCY LIGHT WORK?

It is placed on the roof, to guarantee maximum visibility,

simply by putting your arm out the window, without having to get out of the car and without removing your seat belt.

It has LED technology and emits intermittent flashes of light on a regular basis.

These are auto yellow and should be

visible within a 360 degree radius and up to a kilometer away, even in low visibility conditions.

In addition, it is compatible with all types of weather conditions such as rain, snow, wind (the attachment to the roof must be strong enough) or snow.

WHAT REQUIREMENTS MUST YOU MEET?

The most outstanding: it must be capable of

operating in temperature ranges from -10 degrees Celsius to 50

; it will maintain the required light intensity for at least 30 minutes, and the device will be powered independently by

a cell or battery that must guarantee its use after 18 months.

In addition, there are other series of technical requirements (flash frequency, IP degree of protection ...) but the best way to be sure that you meet all of them is to buy only approved beacons.

The

homologation

code

must appear on the lampshade itself, on the box and in the instruction manual.

It must be in the format LCOEXXXXXXXXXXG1,

where the letters X are numbers that will indicate the approval date and the serial number.

It is important, remember from Norauto, that this code is read without difficulty, which will show that it has left the factory like that and has not been tampered with.

In addition, it must be resistant so that it does not deteriorate easily.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

They are easily manageable by people with reduced mobility and

being so small, they can be carried in the glove compartment of the car and can also be installed on motorcycles.

Being visible from far away, it warns drivers of approaching vehicles in advance of danger, with one exception: if we have been stopped just after a sharp curve, without visibility.

In addition, we will have to make sure that the battery has not been exhausted.

That is why devices that are rechargeable are allowed if the battery can be charged in the vehicle itself.

WHAT TYPES ARE THERE AND HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?

There are the normal ones and the connected ones.

Thanks to a bluetooth connection with the phone and with an app installed, the second type can send a notice of the incident to the emergency services or the insurance company, giving the position of the car.

In addition, through the app, the user will control the itinerary and arrival time of the assistance.

Although it has now been regulated on this issue, in Spain there are brands that have been marketing these products since 2016, in the case of Help Flash, with prices

between 25 euros (the basic model) and 35 euros for the connected one,

although you can find more on Amazon cheap.

In addition, they are also sold in large supermarkets and fast chains of workshops at lower prices, although none are as cheap as the one offered by Aldi supermarkets,

from 9.99 euros and with the corresponding approval.

OTHER STANDARDS TO BE FULFILLED

From

2026, only models that are capable, autonomously, of communicating their activation, deactivation and geopositioning,

to the national access point in terms of traffic and mobility (the much vaunted DGT 3.0)

will be able to be marketed

. The information on the location of the damaged vehicle

will be sent every 100 seconds and the cost of the communications will be included in the sale price to

the public and these will be guaranteed for at least 12 years.

In addition, the Royal Decree of Roadside Assistance establishes that

"the occupants must leave the vehicle, with the reflective vest on and whenever there is a safe place outside the traffic platform

and, in any case, they must exit the vehicle from the side contrary to the flow of traffic without passing through or staying in the lanes and shoulders that make up said platform ... If the traffic conditions do not allow the occupants to leave the vehicle safely, they will remain in the passenger compartment with the seat belt fastened ".

The standard also establishes that

the DGT will draw up a list of V 16 beacon brands and models that comply with everything established;

and will be published at the address http://www.dgt.es/v16.

A website that, for the moment, does not exist.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Traffic

  • Traffic accidents

  • DGT

  • Motor

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