Walter Finch
DRIVERS across Spain face an intensive week of traffic checks as police launch a major crackdown on mobile phone use behind the wheel.
Running until Sunday October 12, the campaign will see Guardia Civil traffic patrols stopping motorists on roads nationwide.
To hammer home the point, they will be accompanied by wheelchair-bound traffic accident survivors from spinal injury charity ASPAYM.
The volunteers – many paralysed in traffic accidents caused by distracted driving – will be present at checkpoints across 18 provinces including the Balearic Islands, Malaga, Granada, Valencia and Zaragoza.
Their presence serves a chilling purpose: to show drivers first-hand the irreversible, life-changing injuries that result from a few seconds of inattention.
Police will be watching for all types of distractions, from eating and drinking to adjusting sat-navs, but mobile phones remain the primary target.
The DGT’s network of 245 automated roadside cameras will work around the clock to catch phone users, even when patrol cars are not present.
The campaign comes as authorities grapple with alarming statistics showing distractions are now the number one factor in Spanish road accidents, present in 30% of all fatal crashes that claimed 406 lives during 2024.
Even more worrying is the explosion in mobile phone use at the wheel. During last October’s similar campaign, a staggering 48.2% of all fines were issued for drivers using phones while driving – a jump of 10 percentage points from 2023.
Cristobal Cremades, Madrid’s provincial traffic chief, warned that distracted driving continues to plague Spanish roads despite years of awareness campaigns.
“Distractions are the concurrent factor with the greatest presence in road accidents, with 13,164 cases representing 18% of the total,” he said at the campaign launch in Madrid.
“In fatal accidents, distraction is also the most frequent factor, which is why this type of campaign remains essential.”
The figures paint a disturbing picture of Spanish driving habits.
A 2023 European survey found that 22.2% of Spanish drivers admit to making phone calls without hands-free devices, while nearly a quarter confess to reading text messages or scrolling through social media behind the wheel.
Research from the European Road Safety Observatory reveals that drivers spend approximately half their time behind the wheel engaged in activities other than driving, with mobile phone use the most common culprit.
The consequences are stark: distracted drivers react more slowly, are prone to sudden swerving, and fail to notice critical information about traffic around them.
“These small distractions, despite their short duration, are acts that require the combination of complex capabilities, which seriously affects driver attention,” the DGT warned. “As a result, the risk of suffering a traffic accident increases significantly.”
ASPAYM has partnered with the DGT since 2007 to deliver hard-hitting road safety messages.
The charity’s volunteers will be present at checkpoints in Albacete, Almeria, Avila, Burgos, Granada, the Balearic Islands, Las Palmas, La Rioja, Leon, Lugo, Malaga, Palencia, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Zamora and Zaragoza.
The campaign forms part of Operation Focus on the Road, a Europe-wide initiative coordinated by RoadPol, the European Roads Policing Network.
Police forces from 419 municipalities across 41 provinces are expected to join the operation.
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