Penalty points system amended
EVEN before the penalty points system launched three and a half years ago for driving offences has been fully implemented across Spain, the traffic department has decided to reduced the number infractions that will see drivers penalized via this system.
In Spain the system works the opposite way round to the UK. All drivers start out with 12 points, and although good drivers are sometimes awarded with extra points, if you lose them all, you will lose your license and have to go back to driving school to get it back.
The Traffic Department (DGT) has changed the Road Safety Law on several occasions. There were 27 offences that caused drivers to lose points, but since November, it has been reduced to 19, with the fines also having been made simpler. These changes won’t be applied until May, but fines are now established at 100 euros for minor offences, 200 for serious offences and 500 for very serious offences. If they are paid within 20 days of receiving the fine, a 50 per cent discount will be applied but you then lose the possibility of appealing the fine.
Other changes include the owner of the car being made responsible to pay the fine if the driver who committed the offence fails to do so; cars being towed away from parking areas if they fail to display the ticket or triple the time they have paid for; and owners of vehicles who have four unpaid fines for serious or very serious offences will not be able to carry out any procedures at the traffic office related to that vehicle.
Offences that used to take off points (now are only punished with fines):
1. Driving unauthorized vehicles on motorways or dual carriageways.
2 .Driving with 50 per cent more occupants than the vehicle allows.
3. Driving negligently, causing risk to others.
4. Stopping or parking on bends, brows of hills, tunnels, crossroads or other dangerous areas.
5. Stopping in bus lanes.
6. Driving without lights.
7. Driving motorbikes or motorcycles with passengers under the age of 12 without parental consent.
Offences for which you can lose points:
Driving with an alcohol level of more than 0.50mg per litre of air or 0.30 for new drivers and professionals (6)
Driving under the influence of drugs (6)
Refusing to take a breathalyzer test (6)
Driving dangerously (6)
Driving a vehicle with a radar signal blocker (6)
Exceeding driving times or decreasing rest times by more than 50 per cent (6)
Changing the speedometer (6)
Driving with an alcohol level of more than 0.25mg per litre of air or 0.15 for new drivers and professionals (4)
Driving with a licence that isn’t valid (4)
Driving after having your licence suspended (4)
Throwing objects which could cause fires, accidents or stop circulation (4)
Going through a red light, stop sign or give way sign (4)
Breaking overtaking rules and endangering anyone coming in the opposite direction or cyclists, or overtaking with reduced visibility (4)
Reversing on a motorway (4)
Failing to obey officers of the law or respect the safety distance (4)
Forbidden U-turns (3)
Driving while using headphones or other items that distract attention from the road, or manually using mobile phones, GPS devices or other systems (3)
Driving without a seatbelt, helmet or child safety system (3)
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