Yesterday morning I was testing the 80 after having some alternator issues. Despite being quite early (06.30), I was stopped by the Guardia Civil, they were simply carrying out breathalyser tests. As I am now unsure of the procedure used in the UK I thought I would put up the Spanish version just in case your Spanish is poor.........like mine.
Normally there is a simple sign stating they are doing 'pruebas de alcohol' or 'control de alcohol' but that is not always the case.
In one hand the officer will have a testing machine and in the other a handful of plastic bags containing mouth pieces. You take one of the plastic bags and open it, remove the mouth piece, the officer will keep hold of the machine while you are requested to push the smaller nozzle of the mouth piece into the machine, he will hold the machine firm as you push the nozzle in, it is quite a tight fit. Then he will ask you to blow into the mouth piece, after a few seconds you will hear and feel a click. The machine will bleep and you will be requested to removed the mouth piece from the machine (this is now yours to keep as a souvenir), at no time will the officer touch the mouth piece, and now you are done....well hopefully just metaphorically speaking.
If you record 0.00 or under 50mg in 100ml of breath then he will send you on your way. Now, if you are just over it is 'rumoured' that you will be asked to park at the side of the road and wait. When the police pack up and move on you will be tested again, if under the limit you will be warned and that is that.
If you are over the limit and the police are not feeling benevolent then you could get a fine there and then. Also you will have at least 3 points taken off your (Spanish) licence or added to your UK one, the authorities here are well in contact with the UK DVLC. There are some caveats for example, if you are a professional driver for example HGV or Taxi then the limits are lower but unsure by how much, perhaps 25Mg per 100ml? If you have only held your full licence for two years or under then IIRC 30mg per 100ml and you may lose your licence.
If you are involved in an accident where alcohol was deemed have been a contributing factor then you are NOT insured and you will pay for the third party damage from your own pocket, and prison time is not unheard of even if there was no accident!
And on the brighter side, cyclists have the same rules and sentences.
And now to zebra crossings, the rules here appear to be changing.
It has always been considered that once a person steps on the crossing they have right of way in the UK, the same is here in Spain however, the black and white lines have also always been painted where there are traffic light controlled crossings. So even if there is a 'red man' facing the person about to cross the road they will still just walk out into the path of traffic, those white lines are now being removed. One of the most common accidents that happens here is when a vehicle is at a red light waiting to turn left of right, the waiting vehicle gets a flashing amber arrow allowing for them to make the turn but, someone crossing the road will have a green man and of course the zebra crossing. They have right of way even though you are in the middle of making a manoeuvre. The problem it seems is that even when the green man has turned red they see the black and white lines as a 'right' to cross the road which is not the case. So eventually there will be no black and white zebra painted on the floor at light controlled crossings.
Some countries are putting red and green lights on the floor for people who do not look up from their mobile phone.........could just be a rumour?
Have a safe journey and holiday over here.
regards
Dave
Normally there is a simple sign stating they are doing 'pruebas de alcohol' or 'control de alcohol' but that is not always the case.
In one hand the officer will have a testing machine and in the other a handful of plastic bags containing mouth pieces. You take one of the plastic bags and open it, remove the mouth piece, the officer will keep hold of the machine while you are requested to push the smaller nozzle of the mouth piece into the machine, he will hold the machine firm as you push the nozzle in, it is quite a tight fit. Then he will ask you to blow into the mouth piece, after a few seconds you will hear and feel a click. The machine will bleep and you will be requested to removed the mouth piece from the machine (this is now yours to keep as a souvenir), at no time will the officer touch the mouth piece, and now you are done....well hopefully just metaphorically speaking.
If you record 0.00 or under 50mg in 100ml of breath then he will send you on your way. Now, if you are just over it is 'rumoured' that you will be asked to park at the side of the road and wait. When the police pack up and move on you will be tested again, if under the limit you will be warned and that is that.
If you are over the limit and the police are not feeling benevolent then you could get a fine there and then. Also you will have at least 3 points taken off your (Spanish) licence or added to your UK one, the authorities here are well in contact with the UK DVLC. There are some caveats for example, if you are a professional driver for example HGV or Taxi then the limits are lower but unsure by how much, perhaps 25Mg per 100ml? If you have only held your full licence for two years or under then IIRC 30mg per 100ml and you may lose your licence.
If you are involved in an accident where alcohol was deemed have been a contributing factor then you are NOT insured and you will pay for the third party damage from your own pocket, and prison time is not unheard of even if there was no accident!
And on the brighter side, cyclists have the same rules and sentences.
And now to zebra crossings, the rules here appear to be changing.
It has always been considered that once a person steps on the crossing they have right of way in the UK, the same is here in Spain however, the black and white lines have also always been painted where there are traffic light controlled crossings. So even if there is a 'red man' facing the person about to cross the road they will still just walk out into the path of traffic, those white lines are now being removed. One of the most common accidents that happens here is when a vehicle is at a red light waiting to turn left of right, the waiting vehicle gets a flashing amber arrow allowing for them to make the turn but, someone crossing the road will have a green man and of course the zebra crossing. They have right of way even though you are in the middle of making a manoeuvre. The problem it seems is that even when the green man has turned red they see the black and white lines as a 'right' to cross the road which is not the case. So eventually there will be no black and white zebra painted on the floor at light controlled crossings.
Some countries are putting red and green lights on the floor for people who do not look up from their mobile phone.........could just be a rumour?
Have a safe journey and holiday over here.
regards
Dave
