One novelty that really does affect us bikers affects the little known rule that you can exceed the speed limit by 20 kph in order to overtake another vehicle, which is really handy of course but does beg the question as to why have speed limits ...
The Spanish transport ministry, DGT, has obviously come to the same conclusion so it's banned from the New Year
Most of the other changes are adding extra fines and points penalties for existing offenses, but another novelty is that local authorities can impose a 30 kph speed limit within their boundaries and it's a fair guess that a lot of the rural towns and villages that we all love to ride through will adopt these measures.
Another odd one that keeps cropping up, especially as with more people taking to cycling under Covid restrictions the more accidents are happening - you can overtake slow vehicles, tractors, diggers, etc. even horses and carts! - in a white line zone as long as it's going under 25 kph and it is safe to proceed. Many of us also use this rule to overtake cyclists - not forgetting to allow the minimum 1.5 meter safety distance as you pass - but bicycles do not appear of the 'definite' list of vehicles that you can overtake under this ruling and even the Guarda Civil admits that there's an anomaly here. So be discrete - NB a lot of cyclists keep videos of infractions but these are not admissible evidence as far as I know! -and remember that a 'pelotón' is considered as one vehicle, i.e. no filtering of cutting in, and if this is longer than a truck you can't go ...
My Spanish friends may have more details of the last paragraph, which may have also changed under this tranche of new rule - if so please post an update amigos!
Enjoy!
The Spanish transport ministry, DGT, has obviously come to the same conclusion so it's banned from the New Year
Most of the other changes are adding extra fines and points penalties for existing offenses, but another novelty is that local authorities can impose a 30 kph speed limit within their boundaries and it's a fair guess that a lot of the rural towns and villages that we all love to ride through will adopt these measures.
Another odd one that keeps cropping up, especially as with more people taking to cycling under Covid restrictions the more accidents are happening - you can overtake slow vehicles, tractors, diggers, etc. even horses and carts! - in a white line zone as long as it's going under 25 kph and it is safe to proceed. Many of us also use this rule to overtake cyclists - not forgetting to allow the minimum 1.5 meter safety distance as you pass - but bicycles do not appear of the 'definite' list of vehicles that you can overtake under this ruling and even the Guarda Civil admits that there's an anomaly here. So be discrete - NB a lot of cyclists keep videos of infractions but these are not admissible evidence as far as I know! -and remember that a 'pelotón' is considered as one vehicle, i.e. no filtering of cutting in, and if this is longer than a truck you can't go ...
My Spanish friends may have more details of the last paragraph, which may have also changed under this tranche of new rule - if so please post an update amigos!
Enjoy!
