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Driving in Spain



 
 
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  #21  
Old May 14th, 2004, 12:34 PM
B Vaughan
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Default Driving in Spain

On Fri, 14 May 2004 07:58:56 GMT, Tim Challenger
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:

On Thu, 13 May 2004 20:18:50 +0200, Jeremy wrote:

In Italy virtually every intersection has signs indicating the next,
or next few, towns in that direction. Even tiny rural lanes exiting
from the main road have a sign indicating the little hamlets they lead
to. When I first came to Italy, I used to take the car and follow my
nose, as a way of getting to know my area. I knew that it was almost
impossible to get lost.


You've never been to Biella or the region between Brixen, Brüneck and
Abtei/Badia (noth Domites) have you ? Or around Ampezzo.


I've been to some of those places, but I wasn't driving. Most of my
driving has been in central Italy: Emiglia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria,
Le Marche, Abruzzo and Lazio. In all of those regions, the signposting
was excellent. If you have a decent map, you can find your way
anywhere. A copilot helps also, to read the map while you drive.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
  #22  
Old May 14th, 2004, 12:34 PM
B Vaughan
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Default Driving in Spain

On Thu, 13 May 2004 16:06:45 GMT, "JD" wrote:

I've driven all over Spain and never had any problems. Nice folks. They
frown on speeding and fine you on the spot.


In some rural areas they have traffic lights designed to catch
speeders. You go too fast and a light turns red just ahead of you.
There may not even be cross street there.

-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
  #23  
Old May 14th, 2004, 12:34 PM
B Vaughan
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Default Driving in Spain

On Thu, 13 May 2004 22:06:22 GMT, "Frank F. Matthews"
wrote:

The thing which caught me out the most was left turn lanes which have
you exiting to the right and then looping left to cross at a right
angle. It works well when you expect it but, initially, it was a shock.


These are very common in New Jersey. They're called jug "handles"
there. They work very well when there are minor roads intersecting
major roads. They are usually associated with a traffic light,
especially if the major road is very heavily travelled.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup
  #24  
Old May 14th, 2004, 02:11 PM
José M. Malo
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Default Driving in Spain

"Elio" escribió en el mensaje
...

I just received in the mail at home in Italy a speeding tickets that i

took
while driving a rental car in Spain last december. At that time i did not
realize i was doing such a violation and was not stopped by the police.

Also
no news from the car rental company. Does anyone have suggestions how to
handle it? What if i just ignore it?


I would ignore it. If I understand well, the ticket has been directly send
from the Direccion General de Trafico (kinda Secretary of Traffic), probably
because the car rental company gave your address, freeing themselves of any
responsibilities (in Spain, the car owner has to pay the fine unless he can
demonstrate that the driver was someone else). Had you been Spanish, the DGT
could have blocked one of your bank accounts until you pay the fine, but I
seriously doubt they can do that to an Italian citizen who has no bank
accounts in Spain (I suppose it is the case). The next time you come to
Spain, if a traffic policeman stops you, I seriously doubt you'd have a
problem because they don't have an online system to check if a foreigner has
pending fines or not.

Summarizing: when in Spain, if you are stopped by the traffic police and
fined, pay on the spot. If you receive a ticket after your trip, forget
about it.

  #25  
Old May 14th, 2004, 03:16 PM
Frank F. Matthews
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Default Driving in Spain

Either there were a really large number of them or there has been a lot
of construction in the last year. They functioned fairly well I just
was expecting them on the other side of the traffic lane and got caught
the first couple of times.

Alec wrote:
"Frank F. Matthews" wrote in message
...

The thing which caught me out the most was left turn lanes which have
you exiting to the right and then looping left to cross at a right
angle. It works well when you expect it but, initially, it was a shock.


Quite a few of those have been replaced by a proper junction with lights or
overpass/underpass as they have contributed to some serious accidents. Alec


  #26  
Old May 14th, 2004, 05:47 PM
Elio
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Default Driving in Spain


"José M. Malo" ha scritto nel messaggio
...


Hi Jose'

I would ignore it. If I understand well, the ticket has been directly send
from the Direccion General de Trafico (kinda Secretary of Traffic),

probably
because the car rental company gave your address,


Yes that is wath i think even if the car rental did not inform me, which may
be their standard practice.
The ticket was sent to me by the Ministerio del Interior, Jefatura
Provincial de Trafico - Asturias - Penarol de Enol, 7
which i suppose is related to the Direction General de Trafico as You said.

[cut]

Had you been Spanish, the DGT
could have blocked one of your bank accounts until you pay the fine, but I
seriously doubt they can do that to an Italian citizen who has no bank
accounts in Spain (I suppose it is the case).


Yes thet is the case


Summarizing: when in Spain, if you are stopped by the traffic police and
fined, pay on the spot. If you receive a ticket after your trip, forget
about it.


Yes, I am now inclined to follow Your suggestions and ignore the ticket.
Thanks a lot Jose' for the information provided.
Elio


  #27  
Old May 14th, 2004, 10:30 PM
TraficoAsturias
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Default Driving in Spain

This is Asturia police. We have traced your vehicle and your penalty to
this web address. If the penalty is not paid within 48 hours your
email address will be removed and towed away to a place where it will be
impounded and you will never be able to use it again. Our computers
can now identify vehicle owners to email addresses. Spain has come a
long way in a few years.
José Luis Francisco - Direccion General de Trafico

"Elio" wrote in message
...

"José M. Malo" ha scritto nel messaggio
...


Hi Jose'

I would ignore it. If I understand well, the ticket has been directly

send
from the Direccion General de Trafico (kinda Secretary of Traffic),

probably
because the car rental company gave your address,


Yes that is wath i think even if the car rental did not inform me, which

may
be their standard practice.
The ticket was sent to me by the Ministerio del Interior, Jefatura
Provincial de Trafico - Asturias - Penarol de Enol, 7
which i suppose is related to the Direction General de Trafico as You

said.

[cut]

Had you been Spanish, the DGT
could have blocked one of your bank accounts until you pay the fine, but

I
seriously doubt they can do that to an Italian citizen who has no bank
accounts in Spain (I suppose it is the case).


Yes thet is the case


Summarizing: when in Spain, if you are stopped by the traffic police and
fined, pay on the spot. If you receive a ticket after your trip, forget
about it.


Yes, I am now inclined to follow Your suggestions and ignore the ticket.
Thanks a lot Jose' for the information provided.
Elio




  #28  
Old May 15th, 2004, 01:43 AM
ML
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Posts: n/a
Default Driving in Spain

I drove around Spain for two weeks on vacation last spring, and here are a
few things that I learned.

- Around Madrid, many of the highway direction signs are labeled by the
name of a city instead of north/south/east/west. This was a MAJOR problem
for me since I was driving by myself, I had no idea where the cities on the
signs were, and I couldn't find them on the limited maps I had available,
at least not while driving down the freeway, so I ended up going in the
wrong direction several times. If you can get exit numbers or a co-pilot
to help you read maps, that will help.

- In the U.S. I am used to being able to exit a freeway and turn around and
go back in the other direction fairly easily from most exits. This was
not the case in Madrid, since there was no obvious route to the on-ramp in
the opposite direction in many cases. I learned to look for the "cambio de
sentido" sign to indicate the exits where I could change direction.

- Be careful of narrow streets, especially in older parts of cities. I had
a Seat Toledo (small sedan by American standards) and was only able to get
through one street by an inch or two margin after folding in the side
mirrors. I was thinking how glad I was that I paid for insurance to cover
damage on the rental car!

- In "old town" areas, I recommend parking somewhere and walking. Some of
those streets are very small with lots of twists and are often not well marked.

- If you're from the U.S., brush up on international traffic signs.

Once outside of Madrid, driving was pretty straightforward. Enjoy your trip!

  #29  
Old May 15th, 2004, 09:48 AM
john E
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Default Driving in Spain

need to carry a yellow fluorescent vest in the car

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wrote in message
...
Hi,

We're flying to Madrid the first week of July and will be driving a rented
car from Madrid to a town in Andalucia (between Granada and Galera).

Do any of you have any tips or things to watch out for when driving
in Spain?

I realize I'll need an international driving permit but any other
useful information/things to watch out for would be appreciated.

thanks,

barry




  #30  
Old May 17th, 2004, 09:37 AM
The Reids
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Default Driving in Spain

Following up to B Vaughan

I've driven all over Spain and never had any problems. Nice folks. They
frown on speeding and fine you on the spot.


In some rural areas they have traffic lights designed to catch
speeders. You go too fast and a light turns red just ahead of you.
There may not even be cross street there.


but you don't get a fine and not all Spaniards stop anyway!
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap
 




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