Police Checks

[Paula]

We have only been back just over a week and between us OH and myself have been stopped by the Guardia 4 times (Do we look dodgy or something) It seems to be a weekly occurrence, and starts to get a bit tedious. They ask loads of questions even wanting mothers name, fathers name, then say ok you can go.
Neither of us have been stopped by Police in UK during 30 years worth of driving each, well apart from a motorway unmarked car speeding stop.

[Beachcomber]

...(Do we look dodgy or something)...

No, you probably look English!

[Paula]

No, we don't look English either!! Nobody ever thinks we are English

[gerryh]

Perhaps you look foreign.
Cheers
Gerry

[fincalospinos]

What do you drive ? The Guardia seem to be stopping a lot of vans and pickups lately.

[Paula]

A car, 3yrs old, spanish plates, I'm beginning to think one or both of us look like somebody on Spain's most wanted list.

[Beachcomber]

I used to get stopped every time I went out in my very old and battered but totally road legal 4x4. I think they must recognise it now because they haven't bothered for a long time.

[julian]

they´re probably not too keen to become part of your home video collection BC !!!

[hillybilly]

The Guardia seem to be out in force on the roads at the moment. There were 3 lots on the way home last night...one unmarked speed camera car, a pair of bikes and then a full on Guardia checkpoint on the outskirts of town...avoided being nabbed by the first two but then stopped for a papers/licence/insurance check at the third...yes, driving a van...I guess with the olive harvest in full swing and the economic climes they are expecting and hoping for a lot of uninsured/dodgy vehicles to be on the roads...

[julian]

and stolen olives !!

[Mowser]

What were you wearing at the time? If it's the attire below, that could explain it.

[princess peach]

My hubby gets stopped ALL the time by police.He does look dodgy and our car doesnt help either.
Its a standing joke now when he gets in and tells me hes been stopped again.He has a shaved head coz he was going bald and cant help looking thuggish bless him.They dont like the look of him tho and often gets one of those illuminous batons waved into his face on a night time we dont care,we dont have anything to hide.

[keddyboy]

For every 15 stops they will get a positive result. Dont be too quick to criticise as there is method in madness!!

[deidrev]

We have seen unmarked cars, including a Renault Megane with normal Spanish plates, doing speed checks on the A7.
The unmarked car is often by the furniture shop called Ornatus and the Guardia cars are at the Los Hidalgos roundabout waiting to stop the offenders. There's an 80 kph speed limit on that stretch and cars, vans and lorries often exceed the speed limit!
The Guardia have had a field day judging by the number of vehicles they have caught!!
I guess it's a way of increasing income as there are very few building licences being issued.

We were in Marbella this week and have seen the National Police stopping vehicles exiting the A7 by the Fire Station!!

[Beachcomber]

Apparently DGT is funded by traffic fines so they need to keep up the pressure. Personally, I would have thought that 1 in 15 isn't a very high success rate.

[peteroldracer]

I got nabbed by Trafico radar the other day - 84kmh in a 60kmh zone - 70€ if I pay within 28 days.
Whilst I cannot argue about the facts, as the limits are clearly shown, it does sadden me that the reason the trap is there has nothing to do with road safety, but solely because it is a convenient spot to park the radar car! It is not a crossroads or T-junction, but an area where there is an exit slip road, and a long entry slip road, with the other highway going over on a bridge. To the best of my knowledge there has never been an accident there, or certainly nothing more than a bit of bodywork damage from one incompetent not filtering into the traffic flow, and an even more incompetnet rear-ending him or her.
The Guardi did have the manners to apologise for the fine!

[julian]

well, as speeding is just as illegal as driving without insurance and with no MOT then I imagine you are happy that another speeder has been fined peter.

[peteroldracer]

Show me a driver who claims never to break the speed limit, and you will have shown me a liar.
Speed limits as such are in any case a farce, taking away the right of a driver to use his/her skill, experience and judgement rather than being subject to a blanket imposition by some faceless civil servant. If the speed limit was the only criteria that driving was judged upon, it would be perfectly permissible to drive through the market area of any Spanish town, crowded with people, at 40kph, or whatever the local limit is, or when the roads are freshly wet after a dry spell, and in torrential rain, drive along any part of the N340 or any other main highway at up to 120kph.....madness.
If politicians were ever serious about wanting to reduce the amount of crashes on our roads, the driving test would be ten times as difficult to pass as the present one, so that only the most highly-skilled were allowed to be in control of a potentially lethal device - it will never happen, so Darwinism rules.

[julian]

"Speed limits as such are in any case a farce, taking away the right of a driver to use his/her skill, experience and judgement rather than being subject to a blanket imposition by some faceless civil servant."
so maybe skillfull, experienced drivers with good judgement should be allowed to drive without insurance as they won´t cause an accident.

[Paula]

For every 15 stops they will get a positive result. Dont be too quick to criticise as there is method in madness!!

But it seems to take anything up to 6 of them to do it in my experience, I don't call that positive, seems a bit of a drain on public resources and tax payers money. And if they can have that many standing around on street corners looking to pick up a fine, how come I couldn't even get one of them out to my house when I got burgled.