Motorists planning a Spanish road trip have been warned to familiarise themselves with new driving rules to avoid hefty fines. With the UK’s cold weather and snow, a trip to sunny Spain seems appealing.
However, the Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) has announced new regulations for motorways and dual carriageways from January 2025 that could result in penalties for uninformed residents and visitors. The DGT emphasised a crackdown on middle and fast-lane hogging, especially in adverse weather conditions.
Drivers are advised to stay right, with overtaking prohibited in poor weather, to make way for snowploughs, which usually travel in the left-most lane. Additionally, from January 2025, drivers in Spain will need to understand the emergency corridor rule, designed to allow emergency vehicles to quickly navigate heavy traffic.
If motorists find themselves in heavy traffic on dual carriageways and hear an emergency vehicle approaching, they must move to the side of the lane to create as wide a passage as possible for the vehicle. This emergency corridor procedure is already used in several mainland European countries, including Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland.
UK drivers are encouraged to learn it to assist those responding to an incident, reports the Express.
In a surprising move, the DGT has announced that motorcyclists will soon be able to use the hard shoulder on dual carriageways and motorways during heavy traffic. The organisation believes this decision, which allows riders to travel at a limited speed of 30kph (18mph), will help alleviate congestion.
However, motorbike riders must still yield to vehicles using the hard shoulder for breakdowns or those already permitted to use the lane, such as pedal bikes, animal-drawn vehicles, and mopeds. These significant changes are part of the DGT’s efforts to enhance road safety, especially in adverse weather conditions.
The Spanish body also hopes these measures will reduce traffic jams, potentially lowering emission levels. It remains unclear how much drivers who violate these new rules will be fined, but traffic penalties in Spain are generally comparable to those in the UK.