Cameras have been installed in Spain that can take photos of vehicles with foreign plates and send them via wi-fi to patrol cars. Thus, officers can chase down any offenders and give them £500 fines on the spot instead of searching for a home address to send the fine notice.
If a motorist will not pay the fine, then the vehicle is immobilized by police.
The new cameras are placed in four popular holiday areas next to speed cameras. The areas are all extremely popular choices for foreigners and are areas where holiday goers make up about 50% of those on the roads.
A Direccion General de Traffico (the Spanish version of the DVLA) spokesman stated that outside of rare occasions, non-residents that are seen speeding usually do not get issued a speeding ticket because the country is not able to locate an address to track them down with.
The spokesman added that this is a problem in many countries in the EU and not only in Spain. He also noted that it is not a witch hunt against drivers from out of town, but that excess speed is the leading cause of about 33% of fatal accidents so taking extra measures to slow drivers down may save lives in the long run.
