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Owners of parked cars cannot be fined for out-of-date ITV compulsory technical inspection stickers
14/10/2021
CAR-OWNERS cannot be fined, nor their vehicle impounded, if it does not have a valid current ITV sticker unless it is actually being driven, according to a verdict by a Madrid court.
Spain's compulsory technical vehicle inspection, or ITV – the British equivalent being the MOT – is carried out on all cars of at least four years old, every two years until the vehicle is 10 years old, when tests must be taken annually.
Cars without a valid ITV – either an expired one, or which are over four years old and have never had one – are illegal to drive and hefty fines will be levied if you are caught.
Until now, you could even be hit with a fine if your car was parked and had an out-of-date ITV sticker, but Madrid's Civil Court Number 33 has ruled this cannot now be the case.
A case was brought after an owner had been fined €200 because their parked car had an expired ITV sticker – the reason for which has not been made clear, but it is something that could easily happen if a vehicle is not often used, or the owner was away when the end date passed.
It was the European Automobile Association (AEA) which filed the appeal on behalf of the car-owner, stressing that, as the vehicle was not in movement, its having an expired technical inspection did not constitute a safety issue.
The ITV is not linked to car tax, which in Spain, is payable annually to the local council, so a vehicle does not have to be declared 'off-road'.
According to the AEA, 'the offence subject to a fine is the act of driving' a car without an ITV, 'not the failure to undergo an ITV periodically'.
The court upheld the appeal and cancelled the fine.
AEA figures claim the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), part of Spain's ministry of transport, may have amassed around €200 million in fines in the past two years – a million fines at €200 each – from parked cars without a valid ITV.
In Spain, fines can be appealed against only for a limited time, typically a year.
What an ITV involves
The inspection takes place at a dedicated ITV centre, and each comarca or 'mini-county' has at least one of these; some allow you to simply turn up and queue, which can be very quick and easy at off-peak times like late evening or lunchtime, whilst others require you to book an appointment.
Prices vary by region, but are typically about or just below €50 for a car.
You can take an ITV at any station in your region, even outside your own province, but not in a different region to the one where you live.
If the vehicle fails, the stated faults must be rectified within 30 days, and the re-test costs in region of half the price of the first test.
After a fail and before a subsequent pass, the vehicle can only be driven to either the ITV test centre, or to a garage to have the required work carried out – even if the failure comes before the expiry date of the previous ITV sticker.
If traffic police stop you en route to a garage or the ITV station after a fail, you must show the 'negative' test result document given to you at the centre.
Once the work is complete and even if the previous ITV is still in date, driving the car anywhere other than the test centre or a garage remains illegal until you have undergone a re-test and passed.
General mechanics, including brakes, gears, indicators, lights, wheels, tyres, gears, seatbelts, and other parts and functions that are necessary for safe road use are checked during a process which can take anything from 10 minutes to half an hour or so, with the owner still in the driving seat and following instructions from the tester.
Emissions are also checked in most regions.
Once a test has been passed, the owner is required to display a sticker on the windscreen, in the top left- or right-hand corner, the correct way up, in a visible position and with all earlier ITV stickers removed.
Sometimes, a favourable test result comes with a list of 'minor faults', which should normally be corrected before the next ITV is due.
Given that any 'unacceptable' faults will have to be fixed before a re-test anyway, and that this re-test costs around €25, it is not normally economically-viable to pay for a 'pre-ITV' check, as the price, in addition to any work required for it to pass, is usually higher than the cost of failing and retaking.
If you know your car has any defects that might affect its chances of passing, though, it is best to resolve these issues before the test, and also to make sure all lights, including reverse, indicators, hazard and fog lights, are working properly and tyres are in good condition.
Owners normally receive a letter telling them their ITV is due – for new cars, the first of these usually arrives ahead of the fourth anniversary of its registration, or may come earlier if the vehicle has been a hire or courtesy car.
After this, the ITV is due before the end of that month every two years, then every year from the 10th anniversary of registration, and must be carried out even if a letter is not received.
Related Topics
CAR-OWNERS cannot be fined, nor their vehicle impounded, if it does not have a valid current ITV sticker unless it is actually being driven, according to a verdict by a Madrid court.
Spain's compulsory technical vehicle inspection, or ITV – the British equivalent being the MOT – is carried out on all cars of at least four years old, every two years until the vehicle is 10 years old, when tests must be taken annually.
Cars without a valid ITV – either an expired one, or which are over four years old and have never had one – are illegal to drive and hefty fines will be levied if you are caught.
Until now, you could even be hit with a fine if your car was parked and had an out-of-date ITV sticker, but Madrid's Civil Court Number 33 has ruled this cannot now be the case.
A case was brought after an owner had been fined €200 because their parked car had an expired ITV sticker – the reason for which has not been made clear, but it is something that could easily happen if a vehicle is not often used, or the owner was away when the end date passed.
It was the European Automobile Association (AEA) which filed the appeal on behalf of the car-owner, stressing that, as the vehicle was not in movement, its having an expired technical inspection did not constitute a safety issue.
The ITV is not linked to car tax, which in Spain, is payable annually to the local council, so a vehicle does not have to be declared 'off-road'.
According to the AEA, 'the offence subject to a fine is the act of driving' a car without an ITV, 'not the failure to undergo an ITV periodically'.
The court upheld the appeal and cancelled the fine.
AEA figures claim the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), part of Spain's ministry of transport, may have amassed around €200 million in fines in the past two years – a million fines at €200 each – from parked cars without a valid ITV.
In Spain, fines can be appealed against only for a limited time, typically a year.
What an ITV involves
The inspection takes place at a dedicated ITV centre, and each comarca or 'mini-county' has at least one of these; some allow you to simply turn up and queue, which can be very quick and easy at off-peak times like late evening or lunchtime, whilst others require you to book an appointment.
Prices vary by region, but are typically about or just below €50 for a car.
You can take an ITV at any station in your region, even outside your own province, but not in a different region to the one where you live.
If the vehicle fails, the stated faults must be rectified within 30 days, and the re-test costs in region of half the price of the first test.
After a fail and before a subsequent pass, the vehicle can only be driven to either the ITV test centre, or to a garage to have the required work carried out – even if the failure comes before the expiry date of the previous ITV sticker.
If traffic police stop you en route to a garage or the ITV station after a fail, you must show the 'negative' test result document given to you at the centre.
Once the work is complete and even if the previous ITV is still in date, driving the car anywhere other than the test centre or a garage remains illegal until you have undergone a re-test and passed.
General mechanics, including brakes, gears, indicators, lights, wheels, tyres, gears, seatbelts, and other parts and functions that are necessary for safe road use are checked during a process which can take anything from 10 minutes to half an hour or so, with the owner still in the driving seat and following instructions from the tester.
Emissions are also checked in most regions.
Once a test has been passed, the owner is required to display a sticker on the windscreen, in the top left- or right-hand corner, the correct way up, in a visible position and with all earlier ITV stickers removed.
Sometimes, a favourable test result comes with a list of 'minor faults', which should normally be corrected before the next ITV is due.
Given that any 'unacceptable' faults will have to be fixed before a re-test anyway, and that this re-test costs around €25, it is not normally economically-viable to pay for a 'pre-ITV' check, as the price, in addition to any work required for it to pass, is usually higher than the cost of failing and retaking.
If you know your car has any defects that might affect its chances of passing, though, it is best to resolve these issues before the test, and also to make sure all lights, including reverse, indicators, hazard and fog lights, are working properly and tyres are in good condition.
Owners normally receive a letter telling them their ITV is due – for new cars, the first of these usually arrives ahead of the fourth anniversary of its registration, or may come earlier if the vehicle has been a hire or courtesy car.
After this, the ITV is due before the end of that month every two years, then every year from the 10th anniversary of registration, and must be carried out even if a letter is not received.
Related Topics
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