Surely on more than one occasion you have faced roads with three or more lanes, especially if you live in large cities like Madrid or Barcelona. And surely on more than one occasion you have come across a driver making improper use of these, such as driving in the left lane without overtaking or using the central lane when those on the right are clear. Well, the DGT has taken action on the matter fining 200 euros to anyone who carries out malpractice with the central lane.
And it is that the presence of a vehicle circulating in the central lane at an abnormally low speed or without the intention of overtaking not only forces other drivers who are going at the appropriate speed to overtake it, but also poses a risk to traffic. But we are talking about a situation that, in addition to implying a harsh penalty, It’s also against traffic regulations..
Driving in the central lane, or how to receive a fine of 200 euros
And that’s how it is collected in Article 31 of the General Circulation Regulationwhich indicates that “you will normally circulate in the lane furthest to your right, although you may use the rest of the lanes in that direction when traffic or road circumstances make it advisable, provided that it does not hinder the progress of another vehicle following you.”
This means that, if we do not intend to overtake and the traffic conditions allow it, We must drive in the far right lane. This will allow the lanes on our left to be freed for the task for which they were designed: overtaking. Otherwise, we are not only generating dangerous situations and hindering traffic, but also contributing to a worse fluidity and generating traffic jams.
/ud83d/udcdbCirculating in the left and/or central lane unnecessarily reduces the capacity of the road and encourages dangerous manoeuvres.
✅ Drive in the right lane and use the left lane to overtake. the limit of #speed it is the same in all lanes.#LaCarreteraNoEsUnCircuitopic.twitter.com/0rTnZZSKi3
— Director General Traffic (@DGTes) November 3, 2022
However, there are many drivers who, either through ignorance or by default, continue to misuse the center lane and left lane. In this way, the mobility agents can give us the high and sanction us with a fine of 200 euroswhich would remain at 100 euros in case of resorting to prompt payment.
To this we must add a second imprudence that many drivers commit caused by the incorrect use of the lanes. This is none other than overtaking on the righta dangerous action that, if considered as such, may involve the loss of four points from the driver’s license in addition to the corresponding penalty of 200 euros for undue advance.
And it is that although it is a problem to find ourselves in the left lane while overtaking a car traveling at an abnormally low speed and with no intention of overtaking anyone. However, if our reaction is to pass him in the right lane we could carry out an action equally or even more dangerousthus leading to an accident in the worst case.
