Barcelona welcomed 17 new point radars and, after a week operating effectively after the grace period, they have become the favorites of the municipal coffers. The reason? The rate of offenses that intercept: on average, four per minute.
Of the 17 new radars, five (50 km/h) are located in locations considered to be at risk due to inappropriate speed circulation and the remaining twelve have been spread across different school settings (30 km/h). During that grace period that we are talking about, which lasted from September 2022 to mid-January 2023, there were already devices with notable figures: the radar between Muntaner Street and Provença Street identified ten infractions every minute.
A single radar, four fines per minute
Things have not changed too much when the cinemometers have started to really fine. The Diary ARA has carried out a study led by similar figures: taking the radar of Calle Industria as a reference, They have observed that he issues an average of four tickets per minute. Or what is the same: twenty in five minutes and 240 every hour. Not surprisingly, 40% percent of the vehicles that circulated through this point exceeded this section and were penalized.
It should be remembered that the fines of the point radars of Barcelona oscillate between 100 euros, when they exceed the maximum allowed by 20 km/h, and the 600 euros, which is the maximum punishment. Drivers who exceed the established speed by 20-30 kilometers will receive a penalty of 300 euros and two less points.
More than a thousand fines a day
The truth is that the sanctioning rate of the Barcelona radars has been remarkable since 2019. The country echoed this pointing out that, in the last four years, the annual average of the devices distributed by the Ciudad Condal is 386,000 fines. Or what is the same: 1,060 every day. A figure that promises to increase in 2023 with the arrival of the new cinemometers.
What is most striking is that the most prolific year in sanctions was 2020, marked by mobility limitations derived from the coronavirus pandemic. Then, 579,448 fines (1,587 per day) were issued because, according to the authorities, the confinement reduced traffic congestion and increased the speed of circulation in Barcelona.
Information in real time
Returning to the point radars (the concept used to encompass, under the same umbrella, fixed and mobile devices) in Barcelona, it should be noted that they are duly marked.
There is a specific sign announcing their presence, the corresponding cinemometer appears on the next block and a few meters later they have located some screens to inform drivers: yes, when they reach this point the radar has already done its job emitting (or not ) the fine. And it is that the figure shown by the light panels is the speed at which they were traveling when they passed the device: if it is green, they can breathe easy, but if it appears in red… the sanctioning process is already underway.