Driving With Excessive Speed
Have you been caught speeding in Spain? Confused how to proceed? Below is a brief overview of excessive speeding offences in Spain and ways in which to challenge your charge. Please contact our highly qualified team of lawyers based in Barcelona if you would like more information regarding the law on speeding.
Speeding
Under Article 379.1 of the Penal Code a person may go to jail for excessive speeding in Spain.
A person shall commit excessive speeding when driving a motor vehicle or moped on motorways at least at 80km/h over the legal limit. On city roads a person will have committed excessive speeding if that person exceeds 60km/h the legal limit.
Penalties
Under Article 379 of the Penal Code a person who has committed excessive speeding can be punished under Spanish Law with the penalty of –
- imprisonment for three to six months,
- a fine for six to twelve months, or
- community service from thirty one to ninety days.
And, in any scenario, will be punished with the deprivation of their right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for a time more than one year and up to four years. The fine will be based upon the person´s salary.
Challenging a Charge
The accuracy of speed cameras and radar guns is not perfect. Sometimes these devices can give inaccurate results. If this is the situation the evidence being used to prove you were speeding would be disqualified. However this can be hard to prove. A competent lawyer would ask for evidence of the accuracy of the device. This could be by checking if all necessary checks and services are up to date and also by testing the device.
Justifications in an emergency
Normally it will be accepted that in an emergency situation, which occurs because of a danger to life or health, driving with excessive speed is answerable. For instance, driving with excessive speed may be justified when your child is extremely sick and it is necessary for you to drive them to the hospital. This is very difficult to justify so we recommend you that if you are in that situation better call the ambulance.
Conclusion
Driving with excessive speed cases in Spain can be very technical and confusing. As stated above the penalities of these offences can be severe. Sometimes there is sufficent grounds which can squash a persons charge of driving with excessive speed. We recommend you to hire a competent road traffic lawyer to help you drive away from Court instead of walk away. Our criminal lawyers can help you with your case in Barcelona, Catalonia, or other areas of Spain.
Should you need further information, or legal advice, please do not hesitate to contact our lawyers.
Disclaimer: This information in this article is not definitive, for up to date legal advice which is relevant to your case please contact our lawyers.
Piñera del Olmo
Granada del Penedès 10, entlo
08006 Barcelona
Tel: +34 93 514 39 97
WhatsApp: +34 675 58 14 62
Email: rpinera@pineradelolmo.com