New road cameras can check insurance

AS part of a crackdown on individuals driving without insurance, new cameras are being installed on the roads in Almeria, which not only take photographs of speeding traffic, but can identify whether a car is registered as being insured or not.

In the past year, the traffic division of the Guardia Civil in Almeria issued 2,985 ‘tickets’ to drivers found without insurance, and this number is bound to increase due to the introduction of new technology.

The Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) estimates that there are around two million motorists driving without having insurance in the country as a whole, and clearly whilst this may be a short term economy for the driver, the long term damage that can be done to those involved in an accident with someone who is not insured could be devastating.

Amazingly, the DGT estimates that approximately 10 per cent of all vehicles registered in Spain since 1996 are being driven without insurance, and it is their intention to reduce this figure as soon and as much as is possible. 

Penalties for those caught can include the impounding of the vehicle and a fine of up to €3,000. Fifty per cent of all fines levied are passed to a special fund, which helps to compensate those who are the victims of accidents where the other driver is uninsured.

According to data obtained by the Provincial Traffic Headquarters, a large number of cars on the roads in the Almeria Province are aging, with an average overall age of 11 years, and it appears that six out of every 10 vehicles on the Almeria roads are more than 10-years-old.