Spain's Congress has passed the reform of traffic legislation, which the director general for traffic, Pere Navarro, believes will be a step forward in the progress being made in respect of road safety. "Updating and reviewing the regulations is good practice for the benefit of us all." Stressing that "the vast majority" of people stick to the rules, "there are a few who act with contempt".
A controversial amendment eliminates the margin of an additional 20 kilometres per hour when overtaking. Other changes include the deduction of six points rather than four from the licence for throwing objects which may cause fire or an accident. There is to also be six points deduction for holding a phone and for endangering cyclists when overtaking on conventional roads and not leaving the minimum separation of 1.5 metres.
There will also be four points deduction for not wearing seat belts and not using child restraint systems, helmets and other protection elements. With regard to helmets, these are to be mandatory for users of personal mobility vehicles, such as scooters.
The reformed legislation will also prohibit the use of personal mobility vehicles, e.g. scooters and bikes, on pavements.
Once published in the Official Bulletin, the legislation will come into effect after three months.