Traffic Police forced to hand out more fines!

Maybe today will my unlucky day, but so far in 25 years in Spain, riding a 'racing cycle'  a big motorcycle and a car,  I have had just one fine (on a motorcycle when I foolishly turned through a pedestrian crossing, in the town to change direction, so my fault, I paid up and smiled).

I have been stopped no more that 3 or 4 times in all. The police have always been polite.

As for driving standards. Having spent my former life driving daily in London, from the outskirts into central London and during my work,  I don't realy think it is that bad here and it has certainly got a lot better than when I arrived.  And Spanish drivers are a lot more considerate to cyclists than visitors.

But as I say, maybe I am lucky.

John,

I have nothing but respect for Uk police drivers both car and motorcycle, they are a joy to drive behind as they are probably the most highly trained and capable police drivers in the world.

My point was simply that there are too many areas where you have to make your own decisions as you meet situations which are not covered by the highway code either here in Spain or in the UK such as a three lane highway approaching a roundabout that only has enough space for one vehicle.

We have to bear in mind of course that modern road systems here are still a new thing and are not as mature as in other countries.

So following the Spanish highway code:

It's o.k to 'blind side' someone on a roundabout by going around all the way outside, then trying to cut across you.

It's o.k to have right of way when speeding onto a roundabout, with no need to stop

Not sure what it says about 'zebra crossings' , though I believe 'back & white' are optional to stop & 'red & white' are manditory, both seem generally ignored the majority of times.

Indicators. do they exist or are the optional ? Certainly rarely seen used in our inland location, perhaps many have yet to find them within the car :)

Your EU marked license, isn't valid (even though clearly stated as being valid for the EU), until you have it stamped. More money for nothing & once again fingers up to the EU.

I have even seen the Police car parked outside one of the local Spanish bars, watching people go from drinking beers in the pub to getting in their cars.....'When it suits them' springs to mind.

Much of this 'fine collecting exercises' brought on because the thieves, sorry politicians in the town halls have no money - having emptied the coffers. Perhaps the guardia should be looking under the mattresses of them & instigating fraud & more embezzlement charges, rather than continually trying to fleece everyone else.

TV.

I did not write the Spanish 'Highway Code'  I just do my best to understand it and to comply.

just had a reply from Moosh, about Brits being stopped by the Guardia, if he has only been stopped once in six years, then I can only suggest that it must be a bit of a post code Lottery, for want of a better expression ?

 Hi John, of course - so do I, except I do use my personal judgement for the roundabout issue - as well as bothering with the indicators. I think if I followed the majority of road users with these specific instances, i'd be more likely to have an accident. So whilst it is important to try to comply with rules of the road, there is a point where commonsense & self preservation 'kick in' whatever the highway code says.  This of course, is unrelated to general bad driving or 'under the influence'.

I always used to leave 20 Euros on the dash board because I have been stopped so many times, for no real reason, and they are happy to take the 20 Euros in their pocket and it's less expensive than the 70 Euros fine

I am back in UK now and have saved myself a fortune  Never been stopped once here by the police because I am a good and responsible driver 

Leave you to figure out who's  in the wrong?

Bowditch,. I really didn't realise the Flip Flop law was in the Uk too!  Thanks for enlightening me!  I know its the law in Spain however but I must admit that I do forget on occassion!  I think when I'm living over there I will maybe leave a pair of 'proper' shoes in the car to remind me!

Why thank you Johnzx, Its nice we can agree on a little something!  What bike do you ride by the way?

Re roundabouts - if we're supposed to go all the way round the outside, what is the inside lane for?

The roundabout inside lane is for the Spanish drivers!!!

Thanks for the responses to my earlier query about the purpose of the inside lane on a roundabout. I have to confess I normally use it if I am going straight on or exiting after 180 degrees, as per the UK highway code. I'll have to be more careful from now on ...

One eccentric Spanish driving habit is the way they speed up when I am overtaking. 

Pablo, wouldn't exiting after 180 degrees generally be the same as going straight on?

I think there are two issues here. The main issue of this thread is, I believe, that there are laws here which we should obey. We chose to live here and if the laws are so disagreable to anyone then maye they should rethink their options.

Second is the reasoning behind the laws. For example, we have just had a new by-pass opened and, to access it from the town, we have to stop. Bearing in mind the traffic is travelling at up to 70km/h and the acceleration lane is very short. While it may be tempting to break the law by "doing the sensible thing" and using the acceleration lane to adjust your speed to that of the approaching traffic, the Spanish see this lane as a place to stop until it's clear to pull out. It says stop, so I do. Many don't. If one thinks a law is stupid/illogical/whatever it is no reason to break it (in my opinion).

I think most people here are actually missing the point in that all law enforcement officers duty is to prevent and detect crime.  By virtue of the fact that the traffic department in the main deals soley with traffic related incidents, it does not detract from the fact that they are 1st and foremost police officers.  It's a well known fact that most criminals will and do use vehicles -stolen or otherwise to get from A to B to commit crime - ergo enter traffico.  The reason that traffico officers "sit on" roundabouts or at particular road junctions is not just  to catch the unwary motorist (be they tourists or not), but in the hope that they can observe known criminals/collect intelligence about particular vehicle movements and possibly a hundred and one other different reasons for being there that the general public would not even begin to understand.  Believe me when I say that the random stopping of vehicles can be and is a very effective way of deterring criminals from using certain roads/junctions or entering urbanisations.  On the other hand it would also be unfair to expect officers to totally ignore offences that are committed in front of them.  For instance on a random stop/ check to ignore the fact that a driver is not wearing the appropriate footware for driving, or not carrying /having the correct documentation.  When traffico collar "unauthorised" taxi drivers at the airports they are not necessarily acting off their own backs, but on complaints received from members of the public i.e. properly registered taxi drivers.  The list goes on and on. So I would like to think that people would now give just a little thought before ranting on about how unfairly they have been treated when comitting or having committed  an offence.

 John what type of push bikes did the traffic police use when you were in London....... lol