Spanish parliament to toughen road safety laws

Spanish parliament will vote on proposed reforms to make road safety laws tougher

Spanish parliament to toughen road safety laws

The Spanish parliament will vote on proposed reforms to make road safety laws tougher. With over 200 possible amendments to the current law there is still no clear consensus in parliament. The reforms were unanimously agreed last week by Comisión de Interior but some parliamentary groups such as the PP and the UPyD are imposing their conditions in return for their support, even if the government gets the reforms to the law passed in parliament it will have to be approved by the Senate to become effective.

Proposals include the express payment of fines (15 days) in order to get a 50% discount (now the discount stands at just 30%). In addition the reforms would make it possible to win back points lost on the driving license (up to 6 points every two years) if drivers are prepared to attend re-education courses. Reforms would improve the technology used to report incidents. According to the government the idea is to make it easier for those drivers who want to pay fines quickly and make it much more difficult for those who usually try and avoid paying fines.

The new laws also make it possible to impound any vehicle that is being used without insurance or motorbikes or mopeds whose owners are caught riding their vehicles without wearing their helmets.

The new list of sanctions for which points are deducted from licenses are to be made stricter - such as carrying radar inhibitors. In addition drivers will not be able to take their car to have a ITV if their insurance payments are not up to date. The margin of 10 kilometres per hour on speeding fines will be abolished under the proposed reforms and a fine of 100 euros will be given after going over the speed limit by just one kph.

The government will also try and reintroduce a reform that cars can be towed away if drivers park in blue zones without paying or go over the amount of time on their parking tickets. The CiU who went to great lengths to achieve an amendment to the proposed reforms for points not to be deducted from licenses until drivers have gone over 131 kilometres per hour are now trying to get another amendment approved which would mean that the department of traffic would be forced to return points to drivers for things that under the new proposals no longer mean that points are deductible.

The PP is against the suppression of the right to appeal against sanctions.



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