DRIVING SAFELY IN SPAIN CAMPAIGN
The feedback
from the talks given by the Club to local groups on the
Club’s Campaign on Safe Driving in Spain have been very
interesting. One of the main points has been the confusion
in the local English papers on interpreting the rules. One
member of the audience recently summed it up very well by
saying you should think of the United States of Spain. What
he was referring to was the Clubs point that Spain has
autonomous Regions that have their own laws and time is
taken to alter these rules if a direction from the EEC
arrives or the Spanish Government makes a change of law.
Only certain laws can take immediate effect which means
that laws or ways of doing things in the Costa del Sol is
not always the way in the Valencian Region. Even in this
Region the Alicante Province can take time to react and a
bit of paper from either the Municipal of Madrid or the
Community of Madrid has no bearing on this region if the
law has not been altered at a National level. The
equivalent in the UK is the difference between English and
Scottish laws.
Freddy Weissman from the Mar Menor Classic Car Club told the Club Torrevieja Chairman that the Police are now checking if English and German plated cars have current ITV (MOT) from their respective countries and 2 English and 1 German plated cars from La Nucia and Mar Menor were impounded until they produced an Insurance letter confirming that the insurance company accepts responsibility for the cars. I think they are still waiting. If the cars are here for over 6 months it does not matter if the owners are not here they should be on Spanish Plates. It finally looks that those people driving illegally and therefore doubtful of the insurance companies paying in a serious accident will be stopped in the future. The Campaign has had a major influence on people’s understanding of the rules and way to handle driving here in Spain as well as getting the point across of the danger when heavy rains arrive when danger can happen so quickly from the first drop of rain. Free Information sheets are handed out at these talks and the club has agreed to give talks to various other clubs with bookings up to May 2009. On reading the Spanish papers it appears that the Guardia and Policia Local are targeting cars that are using mobile phones or fiddling with their Sat. Nav. also drivers or children that are sitting low in the seats and should have a support cushion for seeing and safety with the seat belts. The areas that have announced this are Rojales, Orihuela Costa and Torrevieja which will pick a day each week to stop drivers. Other areas are expected to follow. Don’t forget if stopped then it will be easy for the Police to check documents including current MOT for English registration and for alcohol and drugs. The Guardia not only now can have unmarked cars but are able to check through a central system if you are insured. You may be stopped because your insurance has not been registered with central Traffico. As long as you have a receipt of payment with the details of your car and insurance which is usually supplied by your bank then you should have no problem. Remember this is not your country and your language may not be understood very easily so be patient and polite. Club Torrevieja is not just a club for getting together for a drive in the old cars but is here to help members understand what is happening here in Spain, keeping members informed of changes of Law, helping to solve problems as well as providing officially accredited documents for insurance, valuation and registering for changing to historic plates. As well as a social club it also is for all Nationalities as one of its main objectives. David Hudson