The subdelegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, accompanied this morning the provincial head of Traffic, David Llorente, and the chief captain of the Traffic Subsector, Javier Barja, in the presentation of a new campaign of control of the use of the security belt and child restraint systems (SRI) launched by the General Directorate of Traffic, which took place at the Bemposta Service Station, on the O-105 highway.
Since 2022, with the entry into force of the new reform of the Law on Traffic, Circulation of Motor Vehicles and Road Safety, the penalty for not using these safety systems is 200 euros and the loss of 4 points for the driver and the economic sanction for those who do not use the belt is a passenger. In Ourense, since January 1, 2024, 3,132 points were lost due to this issue, a figure that is only behind those stolen for alcohol and drug consumption and for excessive speed.
For this reason, from 10 to 16 March, the DGT is launching a new special campaign to monitor the use of the belt and child restraint systems throughout the country. The Civil Traffic Guard, together with several Local Police of the province (Ourense city, O Barco, Xinzo de Limia and Trives), will monitor Ourense’s roads and urban roads more intensively by carrying out numerous checks; to which are added four traffic panels that have surveillance cameras to supervise the use of this protection measure.
The Government’s deputy delegate, Eladio Santos, stressed that this is a “relevant and necessary campaign, since last year, in a similar campaign, 1,000 cases were detected in Galicia in which this violation was being committed. In addition, 20% of those who died on Galician roads were not wearing the belt. It’s proven to be a great invention for improving road safety.” In this sense, the data are clear, since the use of the belt halves the risk of death in case of an accident and by 77% in case of overturning the vehicle. “It’s not about sanctioning, it’s about saving lives,” he concluded.
For his part, the provincial head of Traffic, David Llorente, agreed with the subdelegate in this pedagogical message. “We would like to remember that the security belt is one of the most life-saving inventions in history. 50 years after his obligation in Spain, the only one who died in our province due to a fatal traffic accident so far this year did not use it,” he said. In addition, he stressed the importance of the use of this element “in all types of vehicles”, focusing on buses, in which the DGT observes a significant decrease in the use of it.