Vans and lorries to be stopped in week-long safety campaign

TRAFFIC police have announced a stringent inspection campaign all week until Sunday night inclusive targeting vans and lorries in nearly every region in Spain.

Officers are expected to pull over between 200 and 400 vehicles per region in the next seven days after traffic authority figures showed that around one in eight fatal accidents involve vans or lorries.

And over the course of last year, nearly 13% of lorry and van drivers stopped were found to have broken at least one traffic regulation – almost 400 in each region out of 3,000 inspected.

Police will carry out routine breathalysing tests on drivers, and will check their tachographs to ensure they have taken the required number of breaks and not exceeded the maximum legal time limit at the wheel.

They will also be watching out for speeding and for lorries and vans driving too close to other vehicles.

Weight carried, security of the cargo, lights, tyres, and other general mechanical safety features will be checked.