Vandalism is one of the most common evils that Spanish drivers must suffer. And we are not just talking about the feared robberies. There are also other acts that are committed more frequently than most of us would like. From a scratch on the bodywork to a broken window, through a punctured tire, a dent or a torn rear-view mirror.
In fact, 45% of drivers in Spain, some 12.3 million, have found their car damaged at some time by some type of vandalism. This is determined by the Stop Incivism study. Passing the key: x-ray of road vandalism in Spain, prepared by Línea Directa Aseguradora based on the results of 1,700 surveys carried out throughout the country.
The data shown in this report are of a relevant magnitude, since at the end of the year they represent more than 20% of parties without contrary to the insurers. Within these cases, there are two types of uncivil actions. In the first place, the intentional damage that a person causes to a car, called acts of vandalism, and that are due to a reason.
On the other hand, there are those that are carried out involuntarily, without malicious intent, but in which the driver "runs away" without leaving any note or data in the damaged car. These include cases where drivers, despite not intentionally causing the damage, realize what has happened and decide to leave the scene anyway.
Both represent around 930 million a year for insurers. To this figure must be added the personal cost of repair for all those drivers who do not have all-risk policies, explains Mar Garre, director of People, Communication and Sustainability at Línea Directa.
In fact, the study concludes that 54% of drivers who have intentionally damaged their cars have had to pay the full cost of the repair out of pocket. Of these, the majority (62%) have paid about 500 euros, although three out of ten have seen the bill climb to 1,000 euros.
Among the acts of vandalism that owners suffer the most are, mainly, scratches on the paint (36%), whether caused by a key or similar object or by another vehicle. Damage to rear-view mirrors - common when they are left open - account for 21%, while broken windows are related to 15% of cases.
If we focus on the authors, the study shows that around 850,000 drivers (3%) admit to having intentionally damaged another vehicle. In almost half of the cases it is due to personal revenge, although there are other reasons that may be more surprising. 35% of those surveyed admit to having done so because the other car "was badly parked". 15% did it simply because "it was new" and 11% because it was "high-end". Even 9% admit that they have done it because "I like it".
As for the locations, 90% of acts of vandalism take place in the street, with young perpetrators as the main culprits. The communities that suffer the most acts of vandalism are the Valencian Community (51%), Murcia (49%) and the Basque Country (49%). On the opposite side are La Rioja (34%), Cantabria (34%) and Asturias (38%).
Many more are the perpetrators who unintentionally cause damage, but then go on the run. Along these lines, 11% of drivers admit to having left the scene of an accident without leaving any information on the injured party, a very common behavior when the owner of the other vehicle is not present (71% of the time). The result is that more than 40% of drivers have suffered damage to their car without the person responsible leaving their data.
Fear, in 43% of cases, is the main justification for that flight, although almost a third reveal that they have left because this situation "has happened to them before" and 22% say they have left the place to " Don't make insurance more expensive. Hit-and-run drivers are more common in Castilla-La Mancha (52%), Murcia (49%) and Cantabria (48%) and it is more common among male drivers than female drivers.
In total, the damages caused by fleeing motorists represent 18% of uncontested parties, therefore, together with those derived from intentional acts of vandalism, they raise the percentage to 40% of uncontested parties that insurers receive for these two situations.
