Spain puts brakes on tougher driving penalties plan

THE announcement of general elections in Spain has put on hold tougher new laws for driving offences.

The plan was to up the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving to six points and penalising people not wearing seat belts by four points.

Now with the Spanish parliament due to be dissolved on March 5 it is highly unlikely the new regulations will be passed in time – with a knock on effect for road safety, according to insurance comparison website Acierto.

The company points out that using a mobile phone without a hands free facility is as dangerous as drink driving. The site claims that it is equivalent to having one gramme per litre of alcohol in the blood stream – twice the legal limit – and that after a minute and a half of talking the driver stops perceiving 40 per cent of signals. In fact, the loss of points for using the mobile was intended to be the same as driving drunk or drugged, up from the present three points.