IF you are touring on a motorcycle in Spain, the last thing you want to do is bag any type of motoring fine - especially for something that you seemingly do on a daily basis back home anyway.
To avoid this latest move by the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) you better make sure you don’t forget to fully come to a stop while making your way through a T-junction! New traffic cameras are being trialled by the DGT, they function a bit like an ANPR camera, and pick up a vehicle’s registration number while it is in the ‘eye-line’ of the camera. But they aren’t there to detect speed or check your road tax or insurance, these cameras are being used to ensure that motorists come to a complete and total stop when they reach a junction.
The cameras can be found on junctions that feature a solid white line at the end of the lane as it exits the junction - where the minor road joins the major. The new cameras are in the early phase of a trial in Spain, and at the time of writing, we cannot find any information relating to which regions or cities they are located in. The best advice then would be to always ensure you come to a complete stop at the end of a junction, just to be on the safe side.
The cameras are being installed as DGT data shows that around 1,100 people are involved in fatal crashes every year, where the car exiting the lane doesn’t come to a total halt before merging. This could happen for instance where a vehicle creeps out of the minor road at a very low speed. It’s thought that this act could contribute to crashes, as the motorists do not fully concentrate on what is approaching them from the left.
While the new traffic cameras do sound like a money-making scheme, there is a very threat (especially to bikers) that they could help to combat. The SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You) is a nightmare scenario for a biker. It occurs when a motorist doesn’t take enough time to understand what is happening at a junction or roundabout. They don’t give their eyes enough time to compute the scenario in front of them and bikes are often ‘ignored’ leading to the driver pulling out into the path of one. If nothing else, the new system could help reduce this type of incident.
