Motorbiking in Spain

Ministry of Transport launches motorbike safety campaign

The Ministry of Transport is launching a special safety campaign today aimed at reducing the number of accidents involving motorbikes. The campaign is scheduled to run from today until 13th June and will involve extra controls and vigilance on roads throughout Spain. Last year there were 1,690 accidents on Spanish roads resulting in 1,897 deaths – 20% of the total number of accidents involved motorbikes.

Juan Ramón Manzanares, a lieutenant in the Civil Guard and the head of traffic control for the region of Madrid, said that although the number of road accidents were going down it was necessary to continue taking action in order to reduce the number of mortal victims. He pointed out that two out of every three accidents in urban areas involved motorbikes and 27% of these resulted in deaths. He said that 60% of motorbike accidents involved collisions with other vehicles and 71% of people involved in these accidents were aged between 26 and 45 years old.

Manzanares said that the most common offences were speeding, lack of correct documentation and the manipulation of number plates in an attempt to avoid fines. On the other hand he said that the consumption of alcohol was not a common offence committed by motorbike riders because balance is essential in order to ride a motorbike.

Although the campaign is being officially launched today the first fines and controls were carried out yesterday morning. The first people stopped were a father and son, Luis and Carlos. Luis the father later told reporters that he had been fined 50 euros for breaking the speed limit by 36 kilometres an hour (he was travelling at 129 miles an hour in a 90 kilometres an hour speed limit zone).

Related: Driving in Spain and Road travel in Spain

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