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ALONG with a spike in ice-cream sales, a fan breaking down becoming a domestic emergency and fantasies of teleporting oneself to the Arctic – just for 10 minutes, then going home again – summer in Spain is guaranteed to bring one other seasonal regular: Online hoaxes about traffic rules. It's the time of year when mass confusion abounds about whether you can drive in flip-flops or whether you can be fined for hanging an arm out of a window – nobody is quite sure, and social media posts and viral messages and memes only add to the chaos.
And once again, highway police have taken to the mainstream media to clarify our doubts.
Remember that when road traffic law breaches refer to 'licence points', a Spanish licence starts off with 12 and these are deducted for offences, leading to a ban once the total falls to zero, unlike in the UK, for example, where a licence starts with zero and points are added for offences, with a ban coming into effect if the total reaches 12.
Fact or fake? The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), part of the transport ministry, can fine you for not wearing a mask in the car if you're travelling with people from outside your household.
A bit of both: The DGT cannot and will not fine you, because it's not a traffic offence – it's a public health law. This means the Guardia Civil can, and possibly will, although they're likely just to tell you all to put your masks on and warn you that a repeat failure to do so will cost you. Don't take the chance – of a fine, or of infecting each other inside the car.
Fact or fake? Smoking whilst driving can cost you licence points and a fine of up to €4,000.
Fake: There's no law against smoking and driving – this only constitutes an offence if doing so means you are putting other road users at risk, such as groping around on the floor for your lighter instead of looking out of the windscreen, or where it is considered a distraction that creates a hazard. As long as you're driving safely and your attention is on the road and other cars, where it should be, smoking and driving is not against the law.
Obviously, this applies to cigarettes; smoking a spliff before or whilst driving is illegal, as is the consumption of any non-medical drugs that remain in your system when you're at the wheel – a huge percentage of fatal accidents on Europe's roads involve drivers who had drunk alcohol or taken drugs such as cocaine and hash.
The Guardia Civil says: “Smoking is bad for you inside or outside your car, but it's not a traffic offence, and we've debunked this myth time and time again.”
Fact or fake? The new emergency telephone number for urgent traffic-related issues, such as accidents, is 088 and, unlike the 112, 062 or 091 numbers, which carry a charge, 088 is free.
Fake: “This is an old one that's always doing the rounds on WhatsApp and it's a scam,” says the Guardia Civil.
The 112 emergency hotline, and the 062 to the Guardia Civil or 091 to the National Police are free of charge; in fact, even if your pay-as-you-go phone is out of credit, you can call them, and if your phone battery is too low to make calls but enough to keep it switched on, you can still ring 112.
Calling 088 could mean you get a hefty phone bill, as it is a premium-rate number set up by con-artists. Don't chance it, and delete any messages you get referring to it, or to any other numbers that are not the three mentioned above.
Fact or fake? It's a legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in your car on Spain's roads, and at police checkpoints, passengers as well as drivers will now be breathalysed, with passengers facing fines if they are over the limit.
Fake: Passengers can drink as much as they want, provided they do not act in such a way as to present a danger whilst under the influence, and will not be breathalysed.
Although in some countries it is required by law to carry a breathalyser in your car, and you can buy them at service stations, this is not the case in Spain.
Indeed, if you think you might need to use it, you shouldn't be driving in the first place. Alcohol limits in Spain are among the lowest on the continent, and the only safe level is zero.
Fact or fake? Traffic authorities are now sending fine notifications via email, with links to click on to arrange payment.
Fake: This is just another attempt at identity theft, and to try to steal your passwords and bank data and clear out your account. If you have been caught on camera breaking the speed limit or committing any other driving offence, you will be notified by post – normally registered post – and a speed-camera letter will include a photograph of your car at the time and location concerned. This letter will give you details of how to pay.
If you have registered yourself on the DGT's online platform – accessed with a digital certificate – you will get your notifications on here, and may receive an email telling you that you have a 'new notification', inviting you to open the traffic authority website in a separate tab.
Basically, don't click on links you get via email, of any type, unless you trust the source.
Fact or fake? Throwing cigarette ends out of the window, not having your driving licence on your person, or driving with more passengers than your vehicle is designed to carry, can attract fines.
Fact: All these are driving offences for which you will be fined. Concerning the first of these, remember hot summers carry a forest fire risk, and punishment by law for starting one negligently, even if not deliberately, is extremely stiff. The danger is not just present in Spain or other Mediterranean countries – exceptionally high temperatures even in cold climates pose a fire risk which can become a real-live catastrophe thanks to just one stray cigarette butt.
Fact or fake? Washing your car in the street, with a hose or bucket, as opposed to on private land or in a petrol-station car-wash, will earn you a traffic fine of between €30 and €3,000.
Fake: It's not a traffic offence to wash your car in a public place, such as on the road outside your house or in the cul-de-sac, but it is nearly always a breach of local bye-laws on a par with littering or not clearing up dog-poo. So you are very likely to be fined for it, although the amount is not a fixed penalty; the local council is free to set its own levels of fines for civic offences.
Fact or fake? You can be fined for driving whilst wearing flip-flops or in bare feet, driving whilst naked from the waist up, drinking from a water bottle whilst at the wheel, or hanging a hand or an elbow out of the window.
Fake: There's no specific law about any of these in Spain, and these behaviours are not automatically subject to fines. But if doing so affects your being able to drive safely, or prevents others from driving safely, a police officer may consider you should be fined and it will be up to him or her to decide if this is the case.
Driving safely and without creating a danger to others whilst shirtless or in flip-flops will not get you fined, police stress.
On the other hand, driving in other types of shoe which are so painful or uncomfortable that they distract you dangerously, or which keep getting caught on the mat and stop you being able to brake suddenly, might well get you a fine, but in these situations, it is at the discretion of the officer.
“It's not specifically forbidden to drive in flip-flops, but you can be fined if you are unable to maintain free movement at all times,” the Guardia Civil says.
Here, the action that is being punished is the unsafe nature of your driving, not the reason behind this unsafe nature. And if you're not clearly driving in an unsafe or potentially dangerous manner, then there is no reason to punish you for it.
This said, sticking an arm or an elbow out of the window can be dangerous in the event of a collision, as a car slamming into your limb at speed could literally sever it straight off, so this is best avoided. Pop your air-con on instead.
Fact or fake? If your passenger sits with his or her feet on the dashboard, you can be fined if you're caught.
Fake: Again, there is no specific traffic offence of 'feet on dashboard', although a fine or, at least, a warning may be given if this sitting position obscures your clear view through the windscreen.
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