The radars They are, without a doubt, one of the great fears of drivers on the road. The DGT uses them to control the maximum speed at which cars move, which gives rise to numerous more or less true information around them.
For years it has been rumored that there are many empty boxes in Spain, something that ended up confirm the director of the DGT himself, but there is also doubt about some possible Traffic tricks, such as the so-called cascade radars either anti-braking which, however, the DGT does repeatedly deny.
What is certain is that Traffic monitors the speed with fixed kinemometerswith their Pegasus helicopters and with mobile radarssome of which are practically invisible.
This has led some drivers to use various means to remain alert. Some of them, as we are going to see, are prohibited and entail serious sanctions but in other cases, Traffic does allow them or, at least, there is no sanction as such that can be applied to them.
Warning, detector and inhibitor: their differences and possible fines
To be aware of all the radars that we can find on a route, we can visit the DGT website itself but, without a doubt, the easiest thing is to keep news of them while we are driving.
For these cases, do not confuse the following terms, since a significant fine will depend on it, as stated in the Traffic Law.
radar warning
They are the devices or mobile phone applications that alert us that we have a radar in front of us. In this case, the navigator notifies us because it is registered in its database that there is a fixed radar at a specific point or because, if necessary, we receive a notification published by another driver.
That is to say, the device or application does not detect At no time does the presence of the radar only alert us to its location because the DGT notifies it or another driver has indicated it.
- Is it allowed?: Yes
- Fine?: No
radar detector
Here it goes one step further. The device can use its own databases but its true task is to find the radars that we find in our path. It is used because, through waves, it is capable of detect the presence of a radar of speed and, therefore, is used to “discover” mobile radars.
We are not talking about a device or an application that stores information about speed cameras and then alerts the driver. It is a device that actively searches for radars and, therefore, they are prohibited.
- Is it allowed?: No, its mere presence is cause for sanction
- Fine? Yes, 500 euros and three driving license points
radar jammer
The most intrusive device in the operation of a radar. In this case, the device not only alerts of the presence of a radar. Besides, disables operation of this and, therefore, disables the possible sanctions that may be imposed if we exceed the maximum speed limits.
That is to say, it not only acts by warning the driver, it also “protects” the vehicle from radar activity and, therefore, prevents it from being penalized. Therefore, it is prohibited.
- Is it allowed?: No, its mere presence is cause for sanction
- Fine? Yes, 6,000 euros and six points on your driving license
A clarifying note
Although here we have talked about warning devices, detectors and inhibitors, the news that has been accumulating in the last two years will stop us for a moment.
Technically, as we have said, using an application that warns us of the presence of a radar is not grounds for sanctions, but the DGT understands that if we warn of a radar or a police checkpoint we will be committing a crime.
In May 2024, The Civil Guard arrested a man that warned of speed cameras and traffic controls through WhatsApp groups that had up to 15,000 users in real time. It is what was called “the Galician method”. This information was used to avoid being caught committing any irregularity.
The problem is that, technically, neither the Traffic Law nor the Traffic Regulations indicate this activity as illegal. Therefore, what was done was to point out that the accused was committing a crime against the safety of the agents, based on article 36.23 of the Citizen Security Law which prohibits the following:
The unauthorized use of images or personal or professional data of authorities or members of the Security Forces and Corps that may endanger the personal or family safety of the agents, the protected facilities or jeopardize the success of an operation, with respect to the fundamental right to information.
That is, the DGT wanted to make it clear that notifying police controls may be punishable. However, two years later it has still not managed to reformulate the text of the current regulations that punish warnings through applications such as Waze or Google Maps. something that has been talked about for a long time.
With all this in mind, it is important to know that radar warning devices are not prohibited in any case but also that the DGT has used the Citizen Security Law to try to stop the publication of the activities of Civil Guard agents, both breathalyzer controls and mobile radars.
With no news in this regard, at the moment we are still in a diffuse area between what is or is not allowed regarding the radar warning on social networks and applications connected to our mobile phone.
Image | Isaac Mehegan
A version of this article was published in March 2024
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