Speed Cameras and General Road Safety laws.

[eleanor]

Think Mr. C. Needs a hearing aid lollipop! What a great idea re reducing rail fares. Of course here fares are veru expensive and as for lowering speed limits to reduce consumption, can't see that happening here as so much tax is taken from the cost of a gallon!

The public transport system is very good in Mallorca generally. The bus service is excellent and very cheap compared to UK too as is the cost of car parking. We have often travelled by bus from the Port to Palma as it is so simple and also cheap. Great service!

 

[alcanadakid]

The new speed limit law has been introduced to reduce consumption according to Spanish news this morning and comes into force on the 07th March 2011, so all you radar hunters........beware as the fines are very steep and points from your licence are deductable as well as the fine, I do not know whether they can deduct points from a UK licence but if you are living here and carry a Spanish licence as you should be then it could be up to 6 points deducted.

They cannot be deducted from, or added to a UK Licence

 

[lollipop]

They actually add the points to a Spanish Licence. You start with 0 and then they build up to the maximum allowed.

 

[alcanadakid]

They actually add the points to a Spanish Licence. You start with 0 and then they build up to the maximum allowed.

I think you will find it is the other way round. With a Spanish licence you start with points (I think 24) and then have them deducted, while in the UK we start with zero and have them added until you reach 12 and are then disqualified as a "totter".

I also think that in Spain if you have clean record for a number of years then an additional number number of points are added, (3, I think)

 

[lollipop]

Alcanadakid,

yes you are right.my mistake that is exactly how it is I knew it was the opposite way round to the UK. Sorry for misleading anyone.

 

[alcanadakid]

Alcanadakid,

yes you are right.my mistake that is exactly how it is I knew it was the opposite way round to the UK. Sorry for misleading anyone.

No worries Lollipop,I guess it wouldn't affect you anyway.

The only reason I know is that I work in that sector in the UK, not because I am an offender!

 

[ram]

Reduced speed limits

The maximum speed limit on Spanish motorways is 120kph (75mph) and this will be reduced to 110kph (68mph). The government will rush to print new signs to alert people of the change.

These new measures are due to take effect from March 7 this year.

This is in a bid to reduce the 6 billion that it costs for fuel ( The Libya crisis has sharply reduced exports from the oil-rich nation, and about 13% of the oil Spain consumes comes from Libya )

The minister said the measures would be temporary but he did not say when they would end. They will be approved at a cabinet meeting next week. Each increase of 10 euros in the cost of a barrel of oil adds some six billion euros ($8.3 billion) to Spain’s annual energy bill, Rubalcaba said. “This is a very serious problem which greatly affects out economy,” he said. Concerns of a complete cutoff of Libya’s 1.6 million barrels a day of light crude are likely to drive prices upwards this week.

 

[sws97sdg]

Tráfico union says they are only fining drivers over 132km/hr

The Guardia Civil union claims there is confusion with the new maximum speed limit Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba with the Director General of Tráfico, Pere Navarro, with a member of the Guardia Civil - EFE


The Tráfico Guardia Civil is reported to only be issuing speeding tickets for drivers who go over 132km/hr.

The Union of Civil Guard Officials, UOGC, say that they have only received verbal orders since the change in the maximum speed on Spanish motorways was reduced from 120km/hr to 110, and that speed trap radars are continuing to operate on the parameters which were set before.

The UOGC says the only written instructions that they know about on the matter were issued in 2006, and that the change in the speed limit imposed by the Government is generating confusion ‘not only among the citizens, but also among the traffic agents’.


Read more: Tráfico union says they are only fining drivers over 132km/hr

 

[El Gordo]

Thanks SWS

Also from the same site
Typically Spanish

was this

"The DGT traffic authority has said that 100 € fines will be issued for anyone clocked travelling at 111kms/hr, although some driving associations claim that fines will not be issued until 115kms/hr."

I think we all need to be careful with our speed. Stay safe!!

 

[alcanadakid]

Thanks SWS

Also from the same site
Typically Spanish

was this

"The DGT traffic authority has said that 100 € fines will be issued for anyone clocked travelling at 111kms/hr, although some driving associations claim that fines will not be issued until 115kms/hr."

I think we all need to be careful with our speed. Stay safe!!

I don't disagree that we should all be careful with our speed, but I find it difficult to believe that they would prosecute at only 1km above the speed limit. There would be a flood of appeals about accuracy of the equipment, set up and other factors. That is why in the UK ACPO recommend prosecution at the speed limit plus 10%, plus 3 mph and above. (ie 36 in a 30, 47 in a 40 and so on).

 

[El Gordo]

I don't disagree that we should all be careful with our speed, but I find it difficult to believe that they would prosecute at only 1km above the speed limit. There would be a flood of appeals about accuracy of the equipment, set up and other factors. That is why in the UK ACPO recommend prosecution at the speed limit plus 10%, plus 3 mph and above. (ie 36 in a 30, 47 in a 40 and so on).

Hola SWS

My wife was done at 35mph in a 30 zone some time ago. She was given the option of an awareness course instead of fine and 3 points as she was 35 or under!! If she had been doing 36 she would have been fined and 3 points on her licence, no option. So the 10% +3 rule does not apply everywhere.

Best to stick to speed limits.

 

[sws97sdg]

Hi Gorden I think you may mean Alcanakid, he was quoting my post, I'm with you, if you don't speed you don't need to worry about cameras, speed traps or anything, I have been driving for 34 years and never had any points on my licence, keep to the limits, speed kills

 

[El Gordo]

Sorry and thanks SWS for keeping me right.

 

[Sparky]

It is reported today that the maximum speed limit is to go back up to 120kph from 110kph, i think it will take effect from July 1st 2011.

 

[GrandeMimosa]

having been done twice on the palma -pollenca road , for speeding, the cameras are by the bridges just after you see the "speed radar signs " .they are not bright yellow like in uk ,but grey and lower down , also watch out for any low flying helicopters as they will zoom in and radar you for speed, and according to a taxi driver I spoke to, (jose cabs) he had been done for being on his mobile via a police helicopter and a hefty fine

 

[Mark]

How far along the Ma-13 are they? Any idea of the nearest junction number.

Just looked on Google street view and Google only go up to Junction 12 on the Ma-13 at the moment, at least they are working towards Pollensa

Palma, Spain - Google Maps

-

 

[El Gordo]

Mark

Have a look at the Map I previously posted.

Proposed Locations

I have checked the locations between Palma and PP and have found the information accurate, and the cameras are now installed.

Take care

 

[Mark]

Thanks Gordon, I have found one of them on google streetview.

Will post some links and pictures later, they are very well hidden cameras

 

[RobnAnna]

SWS97sdg back in march responded to all this concern regarding speed cameras and has a friend in me.Neither of us worry about them and neither of us has points on our licence.Everyone with a driving licence can hopefully read and their are plenty of signs pointing out the speed limit.They are where they are for a reason,income generators or not.If you find yourself overtaking everything on the motorway or other roads you really need to be thinking about your own driving ability and why everyone else on the road is getting left behind you.They are not racetracks.

 

[El Gordo]

Hola Rob and Donna

Thank you for your sensible views on speed.

However, as the authorities seem to be fining motorists for very small infringements to the speed limit, it’s good to know where these cameras are to help avoid fines.

I am sure we? generally don't condone speeding but sometimes with such new cars, good roads and just trying to keep up with traffic, your speed increases slightly putting you above the limit. Sometimes you are concentrating so much on the road and trying to keep up sensibly with the traffic, that you don’t notice your speed may have increased beyond that limit.

Often limits are not easily recognised.

Keeping up with the general traffic speed, and trying to maintain sensible spacing is by far the safest way of motorway driving.

Very often it is the sensible driver who strays slightly but unintentionally over the limit that gets caught, not the persistent speeder who has all the gadgetry to avoid being caught!

Remember also that you can cause problems to other road users if you are unreasonably slow causing others to have to overtake you or brake hard.

If knowing that cameras are about, often at black spots, helps to reduce speed, it can only be a good thing.

In UK this is exploited by painting cameras bright yellow so that they are seen. It’s a shame that the cameras in Mallorca are not so obvious, are at a low level, often hidden after bridges etc, so that they seem to be more of a revenue generator than about road safety.

Please…Take care on the roads.