The arrival of summer and the time when thousands and thousands of motorcyclists hit the road, especially during weekends and holidays, will also bring new developments in the monitoring of this sector. The Traffic Group of the Civil Guard is going to incorporate 30 new undercover motorcycles that will circulate in areas with the highest concentration of these vehicles to report violations such as invading the opposite lane or having equipped the motorcycle with non-approved spare parts.
The Traffic Group published a few months ago a tender to purchase undercover motorcycles. The aim was to acquire vehicles from brands different from those used by the Civil Guard in road service. However, in the end, BMW large-displacement motorcycles were purchased again because the German brand presented the most advantageous economic offer, with a reduction of thousands of euros per unit compared to other competitors. The motorcycles acquired are of various colors, intending to go unnoticed by other users.
Although motorcycles only account for 16% of the total automotive fleet, the sector accounts for one in four deaths on the roads, according to data from the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT). This high accident rate motivated the implementation of special monitoring by the armed institute. To date, only the Canary Islands, Castilla y León, Galicia, Valencian Community, Andalusia, and the Balearic Islands had undercover motorcycle monitoring. These were the points with the highest incidence of serious or fatal accidents involving motorcyclists. Sources from the Traffic Group acknowledge that with these new 30 motorcycles, the rest of the regions will be covered — except Catalonia, Navarre, and the Basque Country, which have transferred competencies — aiming to tackle the problem of such high accident rates.
Another novelty will be the way offenders are reported. Until now, two plainclothes officers rode the undercover motorcycles and followed the usual routes of motorcyclists, especially on holidays and weekends. When they saw a violation, they communicated it to their colleagues in a marked patrol car located a few kilometers away, who were responsible for stopping the offender and processing the report. Now, officers riding the undercover motorcycles will wear the Civil Guard uniform and will be the ones to stop the offender and issue the fine. “We are going to do it this way because people don’t even realize we are in uniform. These are very large motorcycles and people don’t pay attention to those details,” highlight sources from the Group.
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Sources from the Traffic Group indicate that with these undercover motorcycles they want motorcyclists to feel monitored so that they do not commit violations that could cost them their lives. Run-off-road accidents are the most common cause of accidents. Three out of four accidents occur on conventional roads — a single lane per direction — according to Civil Guard sources. In the last decade, accident rates among motorcyclists have increased by 44%, according to Traffic sources.
The DGT has also already started publishing alert messages to motorcyclists on road electronic signs during weekends. Some read “Motorcyclist, we want you back” or “One in four fatalities are motorcyclists.” The aim is to raise awareness in the sector and reduce mortality.
The typical profile of a fatal motorcycle accident victim is usually a person between 45 and 54 years old who rode this type of vehicle in their youth and stopped when starting a family. Once their children have grown or they have achieved stability, they acquire a large-displacement motorcycle they do not know how to handle. They are occasional, weekend riders who do not use a car during the rest of the working days. In accidents, overconfidence, lack of knowledge of the motorcycle’s characteristics, and misjudgment of distances and speeds usually combine.
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