All change on the roads! The new CiU government as by a grinning Arturo Mas has followed up on its electoral promise of doing away with previous tripartite government's sensible 80 kph limit on approach roads into BCN. From March 1st, speed will only be enforced in intense traffic conditions and on roads which join urban 50 kph areas.
The 80 limit was unpopular and bitterly contested by the motorist lobby - mainly by those who insist on driving into work instead of using public transport -and since you might ask, neither car-sharing nor Park-and-Drive are preferred options here. Removal of the limit does seems a bit odd though, especially as the rest of Europe is solidly sold on reducing speed in large conurbations to lower the amount of contamination and accidents. Sound sense. But not in Catalunya, where drivers prefer a head-in-the sand attitude and a you-can't -tell-us-what-to-do approach to life. (It's not as if Franco had blanketed the country with a speed limit like he did with a Catalan language ban is it?) In other parts of Europe you might use epithets like 'stubborn', 'obtuse or 'selfish' to describe such an attitude. Just like opposition to limits on drivers drinking alcohol, or people smoking in a bar. It seems that as soon as you start putting limits on Catalan behaviour - of any kind - sparks start to fly.
Councillor Puig, who has the dubious honour of lifting the 80 limit, flies in the face of all logical argument. His reported arguments deny all scientific research about the amount of pollution that will be produced and he refutes well-documented research showing accidents increase with speed. He knows there isn't enough money around in this cost-cutting government to put up adequate digital signing to inform motorists about speed variations. Instead he insists that common sense will prevail!! In Catalunya on the roads? Does he work from home all the week? Give me a break! Putting Catalans at the wheel of a car is like giving them a lobotomy.
On the other hand all is not bad! DGT, the pan-Spain traffic organisation, have decided to lower the fining tolerance level on motorways from 138 to 135 kph to cut down on accidents. Thus if you are driving at 135 (15 over the limit you now will get fined. Plus100 more radar cameras will be installed to catch speeding motorists. Maybe the people at DGT read the right journals?
Have you heard about the 'turno de partidos' or 'bipartidismo' in the 19th-century Spain? It basically consisted in doing away with the regulations by the other party's government. I am sorry we Catalans cannot detach from Spain's notorious political tradition.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! Thanks for the comment. Peter
ReplyDeleteSorry, my post was not supposed to be a criticism of Catalans in general, but of the powerful Catalan car lobby which wants to raise speed limits even though the rest of Spain (and Europe)realises that 'Speed kills'which is why Ronda del Dalt is a bit like Montmelo sometimes.
ReplyDelete