Can you end up in jail for doing things wrong while driving? Of course you can end up behind bars for a traffic offense , but don't worry, nothing bad will happen if you drive on a section of highway with a general speed limit of 121 kilometers per hour.
The world of traffic fines is as vast as it is unfamiliar, and it can sometimes give rise to all sorts of urban legends . We've all heard stories of someone we know who got a ticket for driving 65 kilometers per hour in a 60 km/h zone or for driving 95 km/h in a 90 km/h zone. I'm sorry to tell you, if you believed it at the time, that you were deceived.
Radar speed margins
Until 2015, each autonomous community could establish its own speed limits before issuing fines , and, with the exception of the Basque Country and Catalonia, all communities had been fairly consistent in this regard. Since 2015, with the approval of Operation 7 , the following limits have been established:
- From a mobile radar there is a margin of 7 kilometers per hour for measurements less than 100 kilometers per hour and 7 percent for speeds greater than 100 kilometers per hour.
- From a fixed radar there is a margin of 5 kilometers per hour for measurements less than 100 kilometers per hour and 5 percent for speeds greater than 100 kilometers per hour.
- In the case of radars installed on Pegasus helicopters, regardless of the speed measured, the margin is always XNUMX percent.
For your safety and to avoid being "impressed" by some clever friend, if there is one thing you can be absolutely sure of, it is that the Civil Guard and other State forces will always take these margins into account before fining anyone.
That said, I am going to focus on the title of the article and explain what are the reasons that can lead you to spend time in the shade for not knowing how to correctly interpret the Traffic and Road Safety Code.
Reasons you can go to jail
The latest update to the Traffic and Road Safety Code, dated November 10, 2017, includes a partial incorporation of Law 10/1995, of November 23, the Penal Code. This incorporation is quite limited and restricted to those articles that have some kind of connection.
The most important articles, with regard to going to jail or not, are those contained in Title XVII, Chapter IV, of the crimes against Road Safety.
Speed, drugs and/or alcohol
As summarized in the same article, exceeding the speed limit by 60 km/h in urban areas or by 80 km/h outside built-up areas is a criminal offense . It is also a crime to drive with more than 0.60 milligrams per liter of exhaled air (or 1.20 milligrams per liter of blood) of toxic drugs, narcotics, psychotropic substances, or alcohol.
In both cases, the penalty is three to six months in prison, six to twelve months in jail and one to four years of driving license withdrawal. In addition, in the case of a penalty for speeding, the judge can increase the penalty with community work for a period of 31 to 90 days.
Regarding drugs and/or alcohol, remember that even if the levels do not reach criminal levels, a judge can send us to prison if he considers that, even with a lower level, the influence of these substances on our body and on driving was significant.
Drug and/or alcohol tests
Refusing to carry out a drug and/or alcohol test is punishable by imprisonment from six months to one year and with the withdrawal of the license from one to four years.
If an officer stops us for a breathalyzer test and we refuse, they are obligated to inform us of the penalties . If we continue to refuse the test, we have already committed a crime. There are few quicker and easier ways to end up in prison.
And one very important detail: we all know that if the first drug and/or alcohol test is positive, or if the officer believes we are driving under the influence of any narcotic or alcoholic beverage, they can request a second test. Well, refusing to take the second test carries the same penalties as refusing the first.
Reckless driving
Always in relation to road safety, reckless driving is one of the most confusing terms in the legal system and leaves too many ambiguities up in the air, making it difficult to measure the degree of the offense.
A person can be charged with reckless driving if they drive a motor vehicle or moped with manifest recklessness and specifically endanger the life or physical integrity of others. In this case, the penalty would be six months to two years in prison and one to six years of driving license suspension.
Negligent driving and administrative reckless driving
At this point, it's important not to confuse reckless driving with negligent driving . The latter refers to a lack of the diligence required of drivers to drive safely and, while not a criminal offense, is a serious infraction punishable by a €200 fine.
Reckless driving, on the other hand, is essentially a case of negligent driving where an action has endangered the lives of others . It is a very serious offense punishable by fines of 500 euros and six points on the driver's license.
To understand the difference between negligent driving and reckless driving, I can use the example of what happens every day when merging onto a highway or motorway. If we are driving on a high-capacity road with more than one lane in each direction and, upon reaching a merging lane, we fail to change lanes to allow other vehicles to enter, we are committing a serious offense of negligent driving. If, in addition to not moving aside, we accelerate to impede the merging of vehicles, we are then committing a very serious offense of reckless driving.
Aggravated reckless driving
Reckless driving is considered aggravated when it shows contempt for life and is punishable by imprisonment for two to five years, a fine of twelve to twenty-four months and withdrawal of license for six to ten years.
A difference between criminal reckless driving and aggravated reckless driving can be driving at a high speed on a highway with little traffic or doing it when traffic is dense and forcing other users to make evasive maneuvers.
driving without a license
Not long ago, on a trip from Barcelona to Asturias, I was stopped three times for a breathalyzer test: in the morning in Barcelona, at midday in Zaragoza, and at night in Asturias when I was just over five kilometers from my destination, so I can't help but be surprised when I read the news that recently filled the tabloids about the case of a lady who had been driving without a license since 1963.
This lady's attitude, at least with the media, is not the most correct nor do I think it will help her much in her dealings with the law, but here there is a clear debate because more than 50 years behind the wheel makes me think that This lady drives better than many people who do have a driver's license. In any case, she faces a sanction of three to six months in prison, a twelve to twenty-four month fine and 31 to 90 days of community service. And beware, that no one tear their clothes that the case of this lady is not exceptional, far from it...
In this section, I want to clarify that driving with an expired license or with one not valid in Spain is not a crime, only an administrative offense. However, driving when all the points on your license have been lost is a crime.
Great risk in circulation
I consider myself to have a memory that is as good (as it is self-serving) and that is why to write this article it has not been difficult for me to search and find information about an event that occurred in July 2012 when a minor threw a stone onto the La Manga highway (RM12) as a car was passing, causing the death of one of its occupants, a 59-year-old man who was traveling with his daughter.
This action represents a great risk in circulation and is sanctioned with sentences of six months to two years in prison, fines of twelve to twenty-four months and 10 to 40 days of community work, but of course, in the example that I give you the actor of the crime was a minor, and therefore, not attributable (the parents of one of them were convicted).
Placing unforeseeable obstacles on the road, spilling slippery and/or flammable substances, altering and/or removing and/or canceling signage, or failing to restore road safety when there is an obligation to do so, poses a significant risk to traffic .
Unlike the previous scenarios, where the accused party is always the offending driver, in cases of high traffic risk, a wide variety of actors may be involved , such as a child who leaves a skateboard in the middle of the road, an adult who sees the child leave the skateboard and neither removes it nor makes visible signals to drivers, or even the public administration in the event that a horizontal sign is particularly and excessively slippery.
For example, in recent years there have been frequent complaints against public administrations for the disproportionate size of some speed bumps or for installing them without taking into account lighting, width or even the possible drainage of water.
Final Tips
To enjoy the trip, it is very important to respect the Traffic and Road Safety Code and make sure that our cars are in perfect working order.
The extreme cases that I have just told you about are only the most serious but not anecdotal. The percentage of drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol is just over two percent but represents more than forty percent of those killed in traffic accidents.
Interestingly, we all drive very well, but the number of fatalities in 2017 surpassed that of 2016. Some say it's due to the increased number of journeys, others to the aging of the vehicle fleet… The fact is that around 1.200 people lose their lives on our roads every year. While this isn't the nearly 6.000 deaths recorded in 1989 (the all-time high in Spain), the decline observed from 2003 to 2013 has given way to an increase, and we are all perhaps partly responsible for it.