Pere Navarro, director of the DGT: “Lift your foot when passing the radar and then do what you want”

At the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), they are used to criticism, but rarely has their director been so clear. Pere Navarro, interviewed on the Motor 5 program of Radio Nacional de España (RNE), dropped a phrase that has spread like wildfire: "What less than to lift your foot when passing by and then, well, do what you want".

The comment arose when talking about fixed radars, those that, by law, must be signposted with large signs. Navarro mocked those who ignore the warnings and get caught: “Sometimes we say that those who get caught are just foolish. If they put up a big sign, at least have the decency to take it into account," he pointed out unperturbed.

“Patting people on the back and telling them 'behave well', there’s always someone who doesn’t listen"

Radars: neither trap nor cardboard

Speeding remains the most punished offense by the DGT and one of the main causes of fatal accidents in Spain. To combat it, the traffic authority deploys a true technological army: fixed, mobile, section radars, helicopters (when someone takes care of their maintenance), drones, and even devices in disguised cars.

Navarro recalled that the law only requires warning about fixed and section radars. Mobile ones, on the other hand, can be installed without prior notice. The Catalan leader also noted that awareness campaigns are carried out, but there’s always someone who doesn’t listen. “Patting people on the back and telling them 'behave well', there’s always someone who doesn’t listen", he added.

Collect lives, not money

Each new radar unleashes the same reproach: revenue collection. The DGT director takes it with sarcasm: “We accept it with Christian resignation" is his response to the recurring criticism every time a measure of this type is adopted. For Navarro, the numbers speak for themselves: in sections monitored by radars, accidents decrease.

Mobile radars, those that no one warns about, are also not placed randomly. “There is a public methodology to decide where they are installed, it is on the DGT website," he emphasized. And he hinted that his bet is on section radars, which calculate the average speed over several kilometers: “At any given point there may be an excess, but in a three-kilometer stretch, the issue has more substance", he argued.

The last warning

Pere Navarro's message could not be more direct: the DGT does not play hide and seek. The signs are there, the methodology is public, and the radars fulfill their function. If a driver decides to step on the gas, the fault is not with the system.

His phrase summarizes the philosophy of Traffic: “Lift your foot when passing the radar and then do what you want". A touch of defiance to remind that rules are meant to be followed… and that those who ignore them can only blame themselves in the end.

So, you know, if you receive a traffic ticket for speeding, know that the DGT director thinks you lack common sense. Unfortunately, the intelligence of the highest traffic authority in Spain also does not suffice to reduce accident figures or provide us with better roads.

Fuente: El Economista | RNEFotos: X