Thousands of traffic fines incorrectly issued in Spain

Thousands of traffic fines incorrectly issued in Spain
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Sep 3, 2010 - 7:23 AM
The margin of error in radar equipment has not been taken into account as the law demands

Photo EFE

The DGT traffic authority in Spain has been inflating thousands of traffic fines by not removing the margin of error of its radar equipment. A similar error has been made where the responsibility has been passed to the regions in Cataluña, the Basque Country and also by several City Halls, including Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Córdoba and Málaga.

By law a 4% margin of error has to be applied to fixed radar posts and that increases to 7% in the case of mobile equipment. Ignoring the error margin can in some situations lead to fines being triple the correct amount.

Since the latest Traffic Law came into effect on May 24, more than 100,000 fines have been incorrectly issued according to the AEA, the Association of Spanish Drivers.

They advise those who think they are affected to present an appeal, but note that drivers have initially only a 20 day period to make that appeal, whether they have paid the fine or not. A formal appeal against any case can be made within the period of a year.

More information (in Spanish) on the AEA website - http://www.aeaclub.com/

Click here for related stories

mobile |

email this article | print

printer friendly page

More Spain News : National

Readers' comments:
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad.