The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has more than 1,000 radars deployed on Spanish roads to control the speed of the vehicles that circulate on them. The mission of these devices is to ensure that drivers do not exceed the maximum speed allowed, which is 120 km/h on the highway and motorway and 100 km/h on the highway, but even so, thousands of drivers are hunted every year for stepping on the accelerator. beyond what is allowed.
In 2022, the DGT cinemometers filed 3,704,675 complaints for speeding, 21.2% more than the previous year, according to a study carried out by Associated European Motorists (AEA). The driver's defense organization attributes the increase in complaints to the activation of new radars and criticizes the Traffic collection effort for prioritizing controls on expressways over conventional roads where 70% of accidents with victims occur .
By autonomous communities, the AEA report highlights that the most active radars have been located in Andalusia, with 953,422 complaints made, representing 25.7% of the total. They are followed by the Valencian Community, with 447,470 (12%) and Castilla y León, with 427,448 (11.5%). On the contrary, the radars located in La Rioja (39,757), Navarra (83,231) and Asturias (83,933) are the ones that recorded the fewest complaints.
The report does not include the data for Catalonia and the Basque Country, since both autonomous communities have transferred powers in terms of traffic for years. Navarra will assume them from next July, after reaching an agreement with the Government in April.
AEA highlights in its report that the most active radar in Spain is located at kilometer 74.7 of the A-381, known as the Jerez-Los Barrios highway, in the province of Cádiz. The device, which is installed at the exit of the Valdeinfierno tunnel, in the municipality of Los Barrios, caught 79,258 drivers last year (217 on average each day). It is striking that in 2021 this radar was not included in the list of the 50 most 'multons' in Spain, says AEA.
The study also shows that only 50 radars, of the more than 1,000 available to the DGT, made 28% of the total complaints (1,036,054). Of these, 33 already appeared in the ranking of the most active cinemometers the previous year. The other 17 are located in new locations.
The two radars that work the most in all of Spain are on the Jerez-Los Barrios highway. To the cinemometer that is located at km 74.7 of the aforementioned road, we must add the one that is located at km 37.29. Between them they totaled almost 150,000 complaints, 4% of the total. Likewise, another three radars among the 10 that fine the most in Spain are located on Andalusian roads: at km 246 and km 256.7 of the AP-7 (Málaga) and at km 0.5 of the A-49 ( Seville).
In some cases, AEA detects an increase of up to 300% in the complaints made by a radar with respect to its activity the previous year. The cinemometer located at km 37 of the A-381, in the municipality of Alcalá de los Gazules (Cádiz), is one of them. It has gone from issuing 17,666 complaints in 2021 to 68,321 in 2022. On the other hand, the radars located at km 53 of the M-40, in Madrid, and at km 42.2 of the GC-1, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, experience increases of more than 200% and 100% of complaints, respectively.
In view of the fact that most of the complaints are made on highways and dual carriageways, and not on secondary roads where 70% of accidents with victims occur, AEA criticizes the DGT's efforts to collect money. "The DGT should reconsider the radar policy, since the objective of avoiding speeding or accidents is not being achieved, turning the radars into mere collection instruments," says Mario Arnaldo, president of Associated European Motorists.
