If the call for the general elections to be held on July 23 caught Spaniards by surprise for coinciding in the middle of summer, the expiration of the ITV of the car during the holiday period also usually catches drivers off guard. The arrival of the holidays means that many citizens leave their place of residence in search of other destinations to disconnect from the routine and, consequently, that many motorists forget to comply with the obligation to check the condition of the car when it is time.
The regulation implicitly prohibits delaying the ITV and establishes a fine of 200 euros -without deduction of points- for driving a vehicle without the inspection in order. However, the regulatory text does contemplate the possibility of carrying out the control up to 30 days before without losing expiration days for the next inspection.
In this way, a driver whose car inspection expires on July 30 and who will be away from home on that date, can pass it from July 1 and it will continue to be in force until July 30 of the year. that corresponds to it To do this, you will have to make an appointment for a few days before leaving with the car and do it some time in advance, since the result of the review is unfavorable or negative, you must solve the deficiencies observed by the inspectors and present yourself again to pass the test.
There is also the possibility of leaving with the car before the ITV expires and passing the inspection when it comes to any other province or autonomous community, regardless of which vehicle is registered. In this case, do not forget to make an appointment with a time margin regarding the date of return home, since if it is left for the last moment, it is likely that the chosen center does not have free hours or that it does not give time to repair the possible defects detected.
When passing the review in another region, it is possible that we will be surprised when paying for the service. The rates are not the same throughout Spain, since they depend on whether the management is public or private. The disparity of the management model can suppose very considerable differences in the price.
According to a study by FACUA-Consumers in Action, in 2021 the mismatch between the cheapest and most expensive ITV stations was up to 167% for cars and 261.7% for motorcycles.
Despite the fact that the ITV has been mandatory in Spain for more than four decades, there is still a high percentage of vehicles that circulate without any type of control over their condition. The employers of the AECA-ITV stations calculate that they are 35%, that is, one in three cars. The entity emphasizes that the ITV "is not a procedure", but a tool that "saves lives, takes care of the environment and avoids serious consequences". A consideration that becomes especially relevant when the car fleet is old, as is the case in Spain.
The average age of the vehicles registered by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is almost 14 years, according to the latest data from the employers' association of automobile and truck manufacturers Anfac. For this reason, a large number of copies do not have the ADAS driving assistance systems that make it possible to largely correct human errors behind the wheel.
According to the study Contribution of the ITV to Road Safety and the Environment of the Carlos III University of Madrid, if all the vehicles had passed the inspection when it was due in 2021, 148 people would have been prevented from dying in traffic accidents, as well as 575 premature deaths from particle exposure.
