Driver

A driver has crossed one of the longest tunnels in Europe at more than 170 km/h. He is now banned from driving in all of Switzerland.

by

A 22-year-old German has starred one of the most talked about chases of the last few weeks in Switzerland. And his journey through the gotthard tunnelone of the busiest arteries in Europe on the way to Italy, ended with an average speed that was triple the permitted limit, a positive drug test and a permanent ban on driving throughout the country. Below these lines we tell you all the details. what has happened. According to informed Uri cantonal police, the driver was driving south on the A2 motorway at dawn when, before reaching the northern portal of the St. Gotthard tunnel, he overtook another vehicle on the right, invading a delimited area. Once inside the tunnel, he wanted to continue freaking out. Accumulating fines. Once inside the almost 17 kilometers of tunnel, the young man carried out up to 21 overtaking maneuvers on a road with a double continuous line. Their average speed, calculated by the agents, was 171.8 km/h, more than double the limit allowed in the tunnel, which is 80 km/h. Normally, it would take a driver around 13 minutes to go through the tunnel. This guy did it in six minutes. Between the lines. The Gotthard tunnel is one of the most important mountain passes of Europe and one of the preferred routes for German tourists traveling to Italy, especially in the summer months. Precisely because of its intense traffic and its two-way route, any overtaking maneuver poses a risk of collision. The tunnel also has more than a hundred cameras and sensors that allow these types of violations to be captured in detail. So there was little he could do to escape the historical burden that fell on him. The consequences. The Ticino cantonal police finally managed to intercept the driver at the exit of the tunnel, immediately imposing a driving ban on him throughout Swiss territory. In addition, they demanded bail of several thousand euros, an amount that has not been revealed. Added to this is that the rapid drug test to which he was subjected tested positiveso now a blood test is also pending. Crime. The young man faces a complaint for serious speeding violation. According to collect According to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, since a legal reform in 2023, Swiss courts have more room for maneuver when imposing sentences, which in some cases allows the prison sentence to be replaced by a fine if it is a first offense. Even so, according to the media, the law contemplates in these cases a minimum penalty of one year in prison, in addition to a fine and withdrawal of the license, and in the most serious cases the vehicle used may even be confiscated. The driver is now free, although he remains under investigation while the judicial proceedings progress. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | Electric car sales in Europe, on a revealing map with a devastating peninsula. Spoiler: it is not the Ibérica

A German driver set out to discover how much he could stretch the tank of his old diesel car. And he has done 2,400 kilometers

by

Autonomy of 1,000 kilometers. It is the psychological barrier that seems to have been installed in the collective imagination when it comes to talking about electric or highly electrified cars. It doesn’t matter that it is a figure that is worthless because, obviously, it is totally inadvisable to sit in the car and put in 1,000 kilometers at a stretch between your chest and back. Right now, with a good part of the electric car market recharging 300 kilometers or more (real) in about 20 minutesthere are not many reasons to defend those ranges of more than 1,000 kilometers. And yet, such has been the insistence of those who do not trust the electric car that the manufacturers of plug-in hybrids themselves have focused their communication on selling us autonomies that exceed those 1,000 kilometers. And promise, among the electric ones, that we will see batteries that can withstand them. However, and although for everyday life it is something completely absurd, one always feels attracted to challenges like the one presented by the host and owner of the channel. Offroad adventure on YouTube. How many kilometers can your old diesel Volkswagen Passat travel? 2,300 kilometers with its little tricks He promised that he would repeat it if the video went viral. And he has done it. Elias is a German YouTuber specialized in car travel videos. His YouTube channel is full of incredible landscapes, challenges aboard his cars and videos in which he explains how he has transformed the vehicles. In one of them, he picked up an old Volkswagen Passat B5 diesel from 1998 and he decided to know how far he could go. He traveled more than 1,900 kilometers but did not manage to break the two-mile ceiling with a single tank. The promise seemed obvious: likes to the video and a new challenge ahead. No sooner said than done. More than 2,400 kilometers with just a tank? This is the title of the video in which Elias tells of his new experience with this familiar diesel with almost 30 years behind him. The car, at that time, approved an average consumption of 5.6 l/100 km (4.5 l/100 km in the extra-urban) and a 62-liter tank in Spain but in Germany, according to the data provided by the Youtuber, it reached 72 liters. That is, to cover 2,400 kilometers it was necessary to maintain a consumption of about 3 l/100 km. And with these tools, what seemed impossible was posed: how to get from Hildesheim (Germany) to the Arctic Circle with a single deposit of fuel? Let’s get to work. Elias swapped the original rims for closed hubcaps to improve aerodynamics on the wheels and reduce drag. It eliminated everything that could interfere with the exterior: goodbye to the roof bars and the antenna. He also points out that he changed some of the car’s filters to improve efficiency, as well as the lights, replaced by LEDs that consume less energy. Some air vents were covered to further improve efficiency. The YouTuber also points out that he installed a cruise control system, used low-friction oils and Michelin, which is one of the sponsors, gave him a set of low-friction tires that have been inflated to the maximum pressure allowed to reduce resistance. Searching for the sweet spot between driving at a constant speed high enough for the car to move at a low rev rate but without forcing it to downshift and increase consumption, the YouTuber manages to achieve his goal and shows how the car ends up stopping after 2,398.7 kilometers, registering an average speed of 74 km/h and a consumption of 3.0054 l/100 km. The car, in fact, at some point reaches a much lower figure, of about 2.5 l/100 km of consumption. However, in the last kilometers this figure “skyrockets” and leaves our protagonist on the verge of breaking the 2,400 kilometer barrier. Moment in which he removes the seal from the fuel tank to add a little more diesel and be able to get to a gas station. The test demonstrates how far diesels from a few decades ago were capable of reaching, but it also confirms that if the road is clear and used correctly, adaptive cruise control can save a lot of fuel by keeping the car at a sustained speed. Photo | offroadadventure In Xataka | Driving at 110 km/h instead of 120 km/h to save gas seems like a good idea. It’s just a patch

A Chinese driver rigged his car to drive alone while he was drunk. It wasn’t the best idea

by

The Supreme People’s Court of China has had to come out to clarify what may have already seemed obvious: a driver cannot delegate all of his actions to a car with level 2 autonomy. Much less if that driver is traveling drunk and in the passenger seat, leaving the driver’s seat completely empty. As? Yes, you read that right. To Justice. History brings it CarNewsChinawhere they cover the case of a driver who was arrested for drunk driving… more or less. Because, really, he wasn’t the one driving. He was traveling in the passenger seat, with the small detail that no one sat in the driver’s seat. Wang Mouqun, a resident of Linping (a suburb of Hangzhou, a city with almost 12 million inhabitants), has been tried by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China, the most important court in the country, in the first case dealing with behavior related to road safety. The detainee has been punished with 45 days in jail for testing positive in the alcohol test. The decision comes after the driver had also received another sanction for the same reason in less than two years, which has aggravated the punishment. Nobody at the wheel. The truly curious thing about the case is that Mouqun had rigged the car so that the driving assistance system worked even if there was no one at the wheel. Thus, the owner of the car was able to sit in the passenger seat and sleep peacefully while the vehicle was driving without anyone at the wheel. In the Chinese media They talk about “an accessory installed to fool the system” but it is not clear exactly how it did it. What is clear is that the vehicle, a Aito M9drove with adaptive cruise control down the road without ever detecting that there was no human at the wheel. It is not the first case that has occurred in China either. of a driver who activates the driving assistance assistants to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol. What is new is that the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China is in charge of handling the case. Level 2 autonomy. Cars like this Aito M9, with a autonomy level 2can circulate without human intervention but require a person to remain attentive to what is happening around them to take the reins at any time. In addition, they require keeping your hands on the wheel. Level 3 autonomy cars can drive without human intervention but, in Europe, only Mercedes is allowed to do so and in very specific circumstances. In fact, the system is so useless at the moment that the company has stopped offering it in the new Mercedes S Class. Between both levels there is an intermediate step known as autonomy level 2+, which does allow for some license. These systems are those that equip cars that, in addition to maintaining the adaptive cruise control system, can overtake cars on their own, just by activating the turn signal or even looking to the sides like BMW. Ford is the only company in Europe with which You can drive without hands on the wheel although the system monitors that the driver keeps his eyes forward. Responsible. What the Chinese Justice has decreed is that in any case, the driver is responsible, even if he was traveling in the co-pilot system and with the driving assistance systems activated. And although no risk situations derived from this way of acting were detected. In fact, the vehicle was kept in operation between 1:15 in the morning and 1:37 when the vehicle detected the trick and stopped the car by itself on the shoulder of the road. It was then that other drivers detected that something was happening and called emergency services. They tested the driver, who tested 114.5 mg/100 ml of alcohol in his blood. in Chinaexceeding 0.80 mg/100 ml of blood alcohol is punishable by a fine and exceeding 150 mg/100 ml is an aggravating circumstance. Above 180 mg/100 ml of blood alcohol is punishable by a prison sentence without parole, with exceptions. The Chinese court considers that Mouqun was ultimately responsible for what happened behind the wheel and that, therefore, he is guilty of both hacking the car and “driving” under the influence of alcohol. Added to a previous withdrawal of his driving license in 2024, the driver has received the aforementioned penalty of 45 days in jail and a fine of 4,000 yuan (about 490 euros at direct exchange rate). Photo | XHBY.NET In Xataka | Fine of up to 1,000 euros for a beer: the DGT prepares the definitive attack against alcohol and it is called rate 0.2

The robotaxis did not need a driver, but Waymo has ended up paying delivery drivers to close ajar doors

by

What until not long ago seemed the exclusive province of science fiction is beginning to become visible on the streets: cars capable of moving from one point to another without a driver. And you don’t need to buy one to live the experience. In some cities around the world, it is enough to order a robotaxi from an application and see how the vehicle arrives to pick you up, identifying you in certain models with your initials on an LED screen located on the roof, as our colleague Javier Lacort confirmed in San Francisco almost two years ago. Futuristic scene, present problems. In the midst of this transformation of transportation, which aims to offer more safety and comfort, its weak points are also beginning to emerge. We don’t talk about the jams caused by connectivity failures nor of those cars that, for some reason, They start honking their horn at four in the morning. The issue is even more basic: if a user closes the door incorrectly, the vehicle cannot continue operating. The problem is not driving, it is being able to leave. In the case described by CNBC and TechCrunchare blocked if, at the end of the trip, a passenger leaves a door ajar. Waymo confirmed to both media that this detail prevents the car from resuming travel and completing new routes until someone closes it correctly. This is a basic, almost domestic friction that turns a simple oversight into an operational problem and explains why the company has to resort to human support to return its vehicles to service as soon as possible. Pay delivery people. The company is testing a system in Atlanta that alerts nearby delivery drivers of applications such as DoorDash when one of their vehicles is left with the door open. The proposal is simple: approach, close it and allow the robotaxi to operate again. The media even cites the case of a driver who was offered $11.25 for that specific task. They also detail a similar order divided between $6.25 for travel and another $5 after verifying the closure. It is not an isolated case. The Atlanta pilot is not the only example of this specific dependence on human help. Waymo has also turned to users of honka roadside assistance platform, to resolve similar situations in other American cities. In this case, some collaborators received offers of up to $24 to close the door of a stopped robotaxi. More than a local anecdote, these examples draw a clear operational pattern: when the vehicle is immobilized due to a minor detail, the quickest solution is still to send a person. Automatic doors, on the way. Today Waymo operates with a fleet made up entirely of electric vehicles Jaguar I-PACE adapted for autonomous driving, which still depend on human intervention in situations like this. But the company owned by Google assures that this gap has an expiration date, although without specifying it: it announced that its future robotaxis will have automatic closing. Meanwhile, the present of the autonomous car continues to show that double face: sophistication in driving and human dependence on the simplest details. Images | Xataka In Xataka | When San Francisco suffered a blackout, its streets were plunged into chaos for a reason: dumped self-driving cars

the leaked audio of the Adamuz accident between the Iryo and Atocha driver

by

“There’s no train coming.” It is the key phrase of the audio that elDiario.es has been published exclusively and in which the conversation between the driver of the Iryo train and the command post is heard. The audio is extracted from the black box of the Italian train that, according to what is knownwould have derailed and seconds later would have been hit by an Alvia that was traveling in the opposite direction, being thrown to the side of the track and to the bottom of a four-meter embankment. The conversation between the driver and the control center traffic has raised all kinds of speculation but, for now, it is part of an investigation that is expected to be very long and that can extend for months. Therefore, trying to conclude what happened or what elements caused the first and second derailments are mere speculation. In fact, the president of Renfe himself, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, pointed out in the first hours that could not be definitively stated that the Alvia train had collided with the Italian vehicle. Audio and its implications In the leaked audios, Iryo’s driver contacts the command center in Atocha to which he explains that he has had “a hitch” on the track. From there they ask him for a contact telephone number and to lower the pantographs, to which the driver responds that he has already carried out the operation. The pantographs are the elements that connect the train with the catenary and, therefore, with the electrical network. A hitch occurs when there is a problem with the pantograph or catenary. In that case, the train is stopped and may suffer a strong deceleration, like a kind of anchor that prevents it from continuing to move forward. In fact, the driver himself explains in the audio that the train is completely blocked. At that point, the communication is cut off and (if there is no skipped audio in between) the driver informs Atocha that has suffered a derailment and is occupying the adjacent track. At that moment, he requests that traffic be stopped immediately and from the command post they assure him that “there is no train arriving.” Next, the person in front of the Iryo train requests that they send emergency services, from ambulances to firefighters, because there is a car on fire and there are injured people on board. The driver then reports that he is leaving the cabin and the audio cuts out. From the audio it is striking that no reference is made to the Alvia (Renfe) train which, it is assumed, would have collided with the Iryo cars and subsequently derailed. Neither the driver nor the command center are aware that this has happened, which opens up two possibilities. With no official information still on the table, what we have remains mere speculation. One possibility is that the impact of the Alvia occurred almost immediately after the derailment with the Iryo and hit it slightly but enough so that the driver, in a stressful situation trying to emergency brake his vehicle, did not notice it. A blow, however slight, at more than 200 km/h could have caused the second derailment and explains why the trains were found 700 meters apart. If this is the case, it is also possible that the driver did not realize at first (in that period between communications in which he announces that he is going to verify the situation of his train) that there is a second accident vehicle because the distance and the fall to the embankment would have hidden the Alvia. Two competing theories This possibility is what the Minister of Transport himself, Óscar Puente, has pointed out. Initially, a time gap of about 20 seconds was targeted between the departure of the first Iryo and the impact of the Alvia. The proximity between both trains would not have allowed the security system warn of the obstacle on the track and stop the train. Now, Puente believes that barely nine seconds passed between the derailment of the Iryo and the impact of the Renfe train. The head of Transportation ensures This would explain why the driver is not aware that a second train has collided with his vehicle. The other possibility is that the Alvia had not yet reached the accident area when the engineer contacted the command post on the second occasion. However, Puente has indicated that the second communication occurs “between three and four minutes after the first”. This means that, if the Alvia train had not collided or had not passed next to the Iryo at the time of the accident, it would have to be more than 13 kilometers from the event, which is the distance a train travels at 200 km/h in four minutes. Tweet from Óscar Puente showing the map of the command post with the situation of the trains In Xataka We have contacted SEMAF (Spanish Union of Railway Machinists) who explain that the LZB system sends information with the position of the train to the command post. There, the train appears on a map like the one shown in this image uploaded by Minister Óscar Puente. On this map you can see how the trains move forward, with their position updated every so often. On each line, they explain, there is a section manager who must remain attentive to the position of each train. For this reason, they say, there are several possibilities but they make it clear that the reasons can be multiple. They explain that there are two possibilities that resonate more strongly. One of them is that the Alvia sent its position past Iryo’s vehicle almost immediately after the crash and from the command post they believed that no train was coming in the opposite direction, which is what was mentioned to the driver of the Italian train. The second is that the Alvia “disappeared” from the map due to Particularities of the LZB system or because damage had occurred on the … Read more

The lack of generational change has opened a job opportunity for thousands of young people in Spain: bus driver

by

The driver shortage In Spain and Europe it has generated an opportunity for those looking for a stable and well-paid job. Municipal companies are fighting to hire new talents who want to train as drivers of their city buses. The lack of generational change in passenger transportation is a problem that affects many local companies, which cannot fill the vacancies left by retiring drivers. The shortage of drivers in Spain and Europe. According to published data According to the European employment body EURES, in 2023 there were 105,000 vacancies for bus and coach drivers in Europe, which represents 10% of all positions in the sector and an increase in vacancies of 54% compared to the previous year. In Spain the situation is not better. The driver shortage already an officially recognized structural problem. The deficit affects both the freight and passenger transport sectors, and contrasts with the surplus in other professions such as administrative or technical personnel. The forecasts of the transport sector is that, by 2026, 37,000 new bus drivers and about 126,000 truck drivers will be needed. Why are there drivers missing? Among the structural factors that aggravate the shortage of drivers, the absence of a generational change. According to a report According to the Spanish Bus Transport Confederation (CONFEBUS), the aging of the workforce is one of the main reasons for this shortage. Data recorded by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) included in the EURES report indicated that, in many European countries, less than 5% of drivers are under 25 years old. Furthermore, the incorporation of women to the sector is very low, since only 12% of drivers in the EU are women. He sector It estimates that it will need about 24,000 new drivers per year to compensate for the rate of retirement of current staff. CONFEBUS also recognizes that working conditions in the sector Nor have they helped to attract young people: long hours, irregular shifts, temporary contracts and poor family conciliation. Access to training and certification is another obstacle, since the obtaining the CAP or the D permit entails a high cost, especially for young people or migrants who do not have sufficient economic resources and find there a barrier to accessing these jobs. Government aid for training. Precisely to alleviate this economic obstacle when obtaining permission to transport goods and passengers, the Government has promoted a Royal Decree which gives the green light to the Reconduce Plan, which offers aid of up to 3,000 euros to cover the costs of training and obtaining a bus or truck driver’s license. This helps is directed to people who want to train in the road transport sector and is available to cover the costs of the necessary courses and exams. The conditions to access this aid include being registered in the National Youth Guarantee System and meeting the age and training requirements demanded by the Ministry of Transport. Driverless buses. Faced with a prospect of constant staff shortages due to the progressive aging of the population, more and more city councils are deciding to start pilot tests with autonomous buses on their streets, not without some reluctance among the current driver templates. For example, in August the first test of this style was launched in Barcelona, ​​allowing a driverless bus to cover a short 10-minute stretch in open traffic. Our colleague Iván Linares tried it in first person. Madrid has just started a similar test autonomous bus, although in this case its scope of circulation is limited to Mercamadrid. These projects seek to modernize urban transportation and guarantee mobility, although they are still in the experimental phase, so they do not represent a short-term solution to the problem of driver shortages. In Xataka | Barcelona has grown tired of fining 80 cars a day for invading the bus lane. So he’s going to start monitoring them with AI Image | Wikimedia Commons (KingValid04)

move 400,000 people a day without a driver

by

Line 6 of the Madrid metro is about to become the first line in the network to operate with fully automatic trains. There will be no driver, but more frequency, more capacity and less electricity consumption are expected. The project, valued at 300 million euros, will end in 2027 and has the objective of transforming the most used Madrid suburban line into one of the most advanced in Europe. A technical achievement. The Circular transports daily about 400,000 peoplemaking it the busiest line on the entire network. Automating it entails both a technical and logistical challenge, since they must maintain the service while the electrical infrastructure is renovated and security systems, such as platform doors, are installed. Madrid Metro describe as “a new technical achievement in the history of the suburban”, and no wonder. It will be the largest renovation since 2008 and will affect more than 11% of the current fleet. In detail. Automation requires profound changes to the infrastructure. The most important one is increasing catenary tensionfrom 600 to 1,500 volts, a jump necessary to power the new trains and reduce electrical consumption by up to 30% on L6. Across the entire network, the savings will be 3.6%, according to inform the organism. The works include the comprehensive renovation of seven electrical substations and the installation of automatic doors on the platforms. The Community of Madrid has invested more than 450 million euros in the purchase of 40 new convoys manufactured by CAF, designed to coincide with the openings of the current carriages and facilitate the transition. How it affects the user. The new trains promise a passing frequency of two minutes33% more speed and 17% more capacity by eliminating the driver’s cabins. All this translates into less waiting time and more space for travelers. But the process has not been easy. The works, which began in May 2024 and will last until the end of the year, have forced complete sections of the line to close. The buses replaced the service, although it was insufficient given the demand, forming collapses in stations like Moncloa. A first step. Madrid is betting on automation not only to improve its service, but as its particular strategy to aspire to sustainability. Reducing electricity consumption and increasing energy efficiency fit with European decarbonisation targets of public transportation. Furthermore, the project places Madrid in the select group of cities with fully automatic metro lines. We can see examples of these in Copenhagen or Lille, among others. Now it remains to be seen if the L6 project will be replicated on the rest of the lines. And now what. The works will continue until the end of the yearand it is expected that starting January 1 all stations will be open to the public during their usual hours. However, full automation of the network will not come until 2027, when the new trains enter service. Until then, the Madrid metro will continue to be a testing ground. The good thing is that if it works, the L6 will be the perfect showcase for what awaits the future of public transportation in the city. Cover image | Madrid Metro In Xataka | In 2018 it was a countryside on the outskirts of Chongqing. In 2025 it will be the largest train station in the world

Adam Driver contacted Soderbergh to make a more “personal” film about Kylo Ren. Until Disney stopped them

by

It is the eternal tension between creativity and corporate control that grips a Hollywood devastated by the presence of franchisesand which especially suffocates Disney, which either fails to get some of its most iconic brands to overcome the feeling of wear and tear (Marvel), or fails to get them to take creative flight (Indiana Jones, ‘Star Wars‘). The last test, the cancellation of a project that could have been a bubble of fresh air in George Lucas’s galactic saga. The return of Ben Solo. In one interview with The Associated PressAdam Driver revealed that Disney rejected a sequel film focused on Ben Solo, better known as Kylo Ren), titled ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’, which he developed with director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns for two years. Despite enthusiastic support from Lucasfilm, including Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni, the project was vetoed by Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman Alan Bergman, who argued that they were not sure Solo would still be alive after his redemption and death in ‘The Rise of Skywalker‘, from 2019. How it was going to be. The project was born from Driver’s personal interest in closing the arc of Kylo Ren, a character whose evolution he felt was incomplete. Originally, Driver had believed that there would be a reverse arc to that of Darth Vader that we saw in the prequels, but the trilogy produced by JJ Abrams did not develop it as the actor expected. After a call from Kennedy in 2021, Driver teamed up with Soderbergh to create a more intimate, character-driven film, inspired by the somewhat more twilight tone of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. How would I resurrect? Driver insists in that the apparent death of Ben Solo was just that, apparent, and that Disney was carried away with a literal vision of the films. And with this he left aside the tradition of the ‘Star Wars’ universe of resurrecting characters through clones, spirits, time travel or mystical forces, as happened with Emperor Palpatine himself in ‘The Rise of Skywalker‘.​ Driver suggests with his statements that, once again, instead of betting on imagination and betraying expectations, Disney embraced linear and conventional narratives. The shadow of Han Solo. In Marvel only in recent times and with very specific cases, such as ‘The Marvels‘, ‘Eternals‘ either the latest installment of Captain AmericaDisney has encountered box office failures that, in any case, have not been resounding either. On the other hand, we have been six years since the last ‘Star Wars’ film, and this despite the notorious success of the last trilogy. The reason may have been how poorly received proposals such as ‘Han Solo‘ or ‘Rogue One’, which tried to propose narratives outside the Skywalker Saga. Stage fright. However, that saga has ended and Disney seems paralyzed by a stage fright that could be reinforced by the poor reception of series like ‘Obi Wan Kenobi‘ either ‘The Acolyte‘. The success of parallel projects with a certain radical component such as ‘Andor‘ do not seem to encourage the company to pursue alternative paths for the franchise, knowing that it has to invest a disproportionate amount of budget and marketing in selling new films in the series, and that is the reason why in recent years we have seen more cancellations than ideas coming to fruition. Maybe things will change with the (for now) film starring Ryan Gosling that seems well underway. Although until the time comes, we may see a few corpses along the way like this ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ In Xataka | One thousand euros for the Star Wars Death Star: the most expensive Lego set to date does not make all fans happy ​

What you rent is not a taxi, but only a driver for your car

by

Forget everything you know about taxis and VTC. The new in China is not to rent the services of a vehicle with its driver, but to rent only the services of a driver. The alternative, especially for those who return from a party night, seems perfect. Hello, I need a driver. In this type of service the client performs the request through a mobile app that geolocates, and after confirming the request, the magic arrives. Minutes later comes the driver we had asked and will take us where we want with our own car. These types of applications are known as Dàijià (代驾) (“designated driver”) and are present in the country For years. Skateboards. The curious thing, in addition, is how that driver comes, that when he appears he does it with an electric scooter (or perhaps a compact electric bicycle), something that allows him to move from one point to another in the city where the service operates. Upon reaching your vehicle, that driver or designated driver folds the path and puts it in the trunk. Once it reaches destiny and park your vehicle, take out the stick of the trunk and leave with it. If you drink do not drive. Chinese laws are very hard with drunk drivers, and since 2011 the penalties are severe if the police detect one of these drivers. As in countries like Spain, these drivers are exposed to fines, suspension of driving card and even prison sentences. A social conflict. But it is that in China drinking is a especially important social practice, especially in the business world. Sharing a drink is a way that trust and bonds of union between those who do it. In fact, a traditional toast in China, “Ganbei” (干杯), means “empty cup”, and encourages everyone to finish their drinks even if it is also acceptable to drink only a little. Finishing drinks, yes, is seen as a sign of respect. A perfect solution. That conflict that exists between “having to drink” and driving its car has made this type of services Dàijià They have been located as an ideal solution for each other. A recent statement of the Ministry of Public Security indicated how there had been a significant drop in the number of mortal traffic accidents in the last decade. Li Jiangping, director of the Traffic Management Office, explained that the data is especially positive considering that since 2011 the number of motor vehicles has been increased by 89% and that of drivers by 123%. Millions of journeys. According to the Ministry, the number of accidents in which there were three or more fatal victims had fallen 59.3% since 2012. In that same statement the Ministry indicated that one of the factors of that fall in the accident is that “most people choose to use services of designated drivers after drinking, with the number of requests reaching an annual average of 200 million.” Two giants compete in China for that market. In China there are two great protagonists in this segment. On the one hand it is e-Daijiawhich cleared the land in 2011 upon discovering the service to millions of users. Until 2015 its market share was 90%, but in July of that year Didi launched its own service, Didi Daijiawhich integrated into its own application putting it easier than ever its millions of customers in China. That unleashed a price war that ended up benefiting users and, of course, these services, which have become a unique and interesting alternative to traditional VTCs and taxis. Image | Didi In Xataka | The imminent Tesla Robotaxi will have the worst rivals he could imagine: those who are already developing China

If the question is whether a Moroccan truck driver can work in Spain, the answer is “yes, for 20 years”

by

No tachograph and without speed limiter. Thus circulates the truckers who, from Morocco, can already work in Spain since last year when the government reached a bilateral agreement with the Moroccan executive so that its workers can operate in Spain. Without tachograph and without speed limiter but, obviously, with the obligation to comply with the laws in force in our country and also to pass a practical exam. What is true in the information that aimed at unfair competition in the transport of goods arrived from Morocco? The complaints. “His trucks have no speed limit” and “the Civil Guard turns a blind eye.” They are some of the phrases that can be read in the articles that point to an alleged unfair competition from Morocco. Specifically, that of Moroccan truckers who now have more facilities to operate in Spain. As read in media such as The debatesome transport associations emphasize that we are facing an illegality because their trucks have no speed or tachograph limit. In the article they complain that they do have to comply with the law but that “neither the DGT nor the Civil Guard stop them.” And that when this happens they do not pay their infractions because they declare themselves insolvent. Those complaints have also Shared some carriers that use their social networks to show their day to day and explain how their work works. Can a Moroccan truck driver work in Spain? Yes. And “there is no change since 2004,” they assure us from the DGT. “No, we are not giving away carnés from truck drivers to Moroccans,” they assure us from traffic and refer to the current regulations since 2004 When both countries signed an agreement for the partial validation of the driver’s bonds between the two countries. Then it was confirmed that those who had a current driving license in Morocco could drive in Spain. In the case of licenses C, C+E, D and D+e, a theoretical test and another practice were forced. Since 2024, that has changed and the proof is exclusively practical since “taking into account that said test is not required as a general requirement in all of the driving permits arrange How to read in the text that reflects the normative change. What’s new? Little thing, really. What has been done has been slightly flexible the regulations already in force but, as we say, those who aspire to work as truck drivers in Spain continue to have a practical test. The normative change also reflected the possibility of doing the online process instead of going to a traffic office. Once the permission is validated after the practical test on open road, the worker has to Get the Professional Aptitude Certificate (CAP). Are there more countries in this situation? Yes, many more. You can read the complete list on this DGT link. In it you can verify how citizens of some countries have to pass practical evidence, such as Moroccans or Hondurans. Guatemalans or Filipinos have to pass an additional specific exam. However, there are countries outside the European Union, such as Japan, the United Kingdom or New Zealand that have a Blanca Carta for their workers to receive an automatic validation of the driving license, whether individual or professional individuals. They do not have to pass theoretical or practical evidence. Is it true that their trucks have no tachograph? Yes, it’s true. The breaks are regulated in this case by the Circular instruction 01/2016 on tachograph and driving and rest times. It is specified in the document that will be applied “regardless of the country where the vehicle is enrolled.” How do you control then? Moroccan drivers are obliged to demonstrate that they have rested, at least 9 hours in the 24 hours prior to their entry into Spain, as specified in the International Road Transport Agreement and Merchandise Signed on October 3, 2012 between Morocco and Spain. If they cannot demonstrate this rest, they will have to do it when the border is overcome. Is it true that your trucks have no speed limiter? Yes, it’s true. That does not mean that they can happily exceed speed limits. In this case, the Civil Guard is responsible for monitoring said vehicles and economically punish offenders as it happens, for example, with any driver who skip traffic regulations. Is Spain the only country that has an agreement with Morocco? No, although alone Italy has a bilateral agreement with Morocco that allows the licenses to be redeemed to Moroccan truckers. Of course, in this case they do not have the obligation to overcome exams of any kind, or practical or theoretical. Other countries do allow these people to maintain a professional license but force to overcome various tests or temporary licenses are issued after a few months. Photo | Caleb Ruiter and AFKER MOIZ In Xataka | That the DGT is going to fine you with 135 euros for driving only in your car sounds bad. The only problem is that it is false

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.