The director of the DGT, Pere Navarro, announced last week that using a mobile phone while driving could be penalised with the loss of points. The idea is to double the penalty: from 3 to 6 points.
The bill reforming the driving licence will target mobile phones. Or more precisely, their use while we are driving a vehicle. This is no laughing matter: 32% of fatal accidents in 2018 were caused by distractions at the wheel. What is more, since 2016 distraction has become the main cause of accidents, ahead of speed or the abuse of alcohol and drugs. With these figures, it is no surprise that Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, is announcing a bill to raise the penalty from 3 to 6 points if someone is caught driving with a mobile phone in their hand.
It seems that we are not prepared to make reasonable use of the mobile phone which, these days, has become a kind of prosthesis or extension of ourselves. Perhaps that is why more than one in three Spaniards admit that, in the last year, they have made phone calls or written and read text messages while driving.
What is the fine for handling a mobile phone?
Until now, the penalty was 200 euros, and 3 points were deducted from the licence. A punishment that seems to have fallen short. Given that, in Navarro’s own words, the points-based licence is a success story, why not try toughening the rules on the loss of points?
Let us remember that it was during the current DGT director’s first term at the head of the institution that the points-based licence came into force, on 1 July 13 years ago. The data back up his claim. In 1989 more than 6,000 people lost their lives on the roads, while in 2018 the figure was 1,180. Clearly, that is still far too many victims, but the fall has been dramatic.
Greater monitoring
Inappropriate mobile phone use, as well as being penalised, will be doubly monitored. Sixteen of the cameras used to check seat belt use are expected to start monitoring those who dare to pick up their phone at the wheel. But every little helps, and in this respect Navarro appeals to the responsibility of drivers as well as of passengers in the vehicle, and of those who send WhatsApp messages (the social network has 25 million users in our country) knowing that the recipient is driving at that moment.