Radar speed control sign for especially dangerous road sections
Inappropriate speed is the third most common contributory factor in road accidents, especially those involving fatalities. In 2023 with 24 hour data within the scope of the DGT, 211 fatalities were recorded in which this factor was present.
The campaign will be carried out from Monday 15th until Sunday 21st by agents of the Guardia Civil Traffic Group, as well as the rest of the local police that join the campaign, with the aim of controlling particularly risky stretches associated with speed, as well as those points where traffic exceeds the established limit and there is a high accident rate, all following the recommendations of international and European organisations that urge the bodies in charge of road safety in the different countries to ensure that the established speed limits are complied with.
As this is a campaign also developed at a European level by the RoadPol (European Roads Policing Network) association, monitoring will not only be carried out in Spain but in all countries that are members of this association.
In view of their preventive nature, drivers shall be informed of the existence of controls, either by means of variable message signs or by means of circumstantial vertical signage when the road is not equipped with such signs.
More measures
It has been shown that speed not only affects the risk of being involved in a traffic accident but also that the higher the speed, the more difficult it is to react in time to prevent the accident and the more serious the injuries resulting from the accident.
For this reason, with the aim of reducing the number not only of fatal accidents but also of serious injuries, the Department of Traffic will install 88 new radars over the course of this year, 60% of which will be stretch radars. In addition, most of them will be placed on conventional roads, where 7 out of 10 fatalities occur.
Variable compliance
Based on the results of the European Baseline Project, as far as speed is concerned, the level of compliance with the speed limit in Spain varies according to the type of road.
While on main roads, 63% of cars drive within the speed limit (a high figure compared to other countries), on motorways this percentage drops to 51%. On conventional roads, where the risks are highest, compliance with the speed limit is 43%, a low level, similar to that of Belgium (46%).
On urban roads with a 50km/h limit, the level of speed compliance by passenger cars is 65%, the third highest of the 13 countries with which we share the limit.
On 30 km/h roads, the level of compliance is 32%, the highest of the three countries for which data is available. It should also be noted that the average speed of cars on 30 streets is 11 km/h lower than on 50 streets (36 km/h compared to 47 km/h), a difference that greatly reduces the risk of a fatal or serious road traffic collision.
Also with the help of technology
All new vehicles registered from 6 July 2024 onwards must be equipped with a number of advanced safety features, known as ADAS, including Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA).
This system, consisting of the in-vehicle navigator, which displays the speed limit on the road, and a sign recognition system that complements the digital mapping and detects temporary speed limits, helps drivers know and respect speed limits, thus contributing to improved road safety.
Non official translation