Points system - offences so far

Joan Collins THE Traffic division of the Guardia Civil (ATGC) has reported 1'735 serious and very serious offences in the Balearics since the introduction of the driving licence points system, more than half for speeding or not wearing a seat belt. According to the Traffic department, up to August 6 1'374 men and 360 women were reported, of which 138 were professional drivers and 414 were less than 25 years old. The 1'735 offences reported mean that these Balearic drivers will lose 5'534 points once the penalties are confirmed. Speeding was the cause of 549 penalties (31.6 percent of the total), 404 drivers were penalised for driving without a seat belt (23 percent of the total), while 228 were penalised for driving with over the legal limit of alcohol in their blood. The figures published reveal that speeding is the offence which has lost most points for Balearic drivers since the introduction of the new system. l Speeding has lost a total of 1'323 points for drivers on the islands l Driving without a seat belt caused a loss of 1'212 points l 82 motorcyclists driving without wearing a crash helmet lost a total of 246 points Driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in the blood, which means a loss of 4 or 6 points depending on the amount of alcohol in the blood, lost a further 1'106 points for Balearic drivers. During this time: l 151 people were penalised for driving while talking on their mobile telephones, for which they lost 453 points l 35 drivers lost 140 points for careless driving l 3 drivers lost 18 points for driving under the influence of drugs l 2 drivers lost 12 points, 6 each, for refusing to take a breath test or any other test for alcohol and drugs l Reckless driving caused the loss of 138 points for 23 drivers l Illegal overtaking and ignoring priorities at junctions lost 132 points for 33 drivers. l 3 professional Balearic drivers exceeded the daily hours allowed for driving by 50 percent and for this they lost 18 points Also during this period 736 points were withdrawn for different offences which were not specified by the Traffic Department.