The DGT reflects in the traffic regulations the driver's obligation to maintain a good driving position, but also to worry that the other occupants of the car also maintain it.
The month of August is a month to travel: the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) estimated, at the beginning of the month, that throughout the month of holidays par excellence some 49 million trips would take place on Spanish roads. Also at the beginning of August, data on traffic accidents in the month of July were published, confirming a total of 131 deaths in traffic accidents; while long-haul movements had increased by 5% compared to the same month in 2019, the accident rate had increased by 12%..
That is why the Civil Guard has launched a warning through its social networks, one of many, for those who travel by road, emphasizing the correct position in which not only the driver must travel, but also his companions. "Did you know that an incorrect position of the co-driver seriously aggravates his injuries in the event of an accident? And what is punishable? It is not for the fine, it is for your safety," they write from the body on their official Twitter profile.
The truth is that the traffic regulations of the DGT oblige the driver of any vehicle to maintain "their own freedom of movement, the necessary field of vision and permanent attention to driving" so as to guarantee both their safety and that of the driver. other occupants of the car; but among their obligations is also to "maintain the proper position and that the rest of the passengers maintain it." This excludes, in any case, the co-driver traveling with his feet resting on the dashboard or on the door window, a position that may seem more 'comfortable' for the main passenger.
In a test carried out by RACE and Goodyear and shared by the insurer Mutua Madrileña, he points out some of the consequences of not sitting correctly inside the vehicle. One of the examples they give is that of a person who, as a passenger with a seat belt fastened, was "leaning back with his legs on the dashboard (as if he were sleeping)". "When he was lying down, he slipped in the seat and the belt could not hold him correctly. After the accident, injuries incompatible with life were detected in the head, neck and thorax, and" very serious "in both legs.
Another example is the one given by the SUMMA 112 Vero Real nurse, who some time ago published on her Twitter profile an X-ray of a person who had suffered a car accident while sitting badly in the passenger seat. "Consequences of putting your feet on the dashboard of the car and having an accident. Think about it the next day you go to do it," he warned then. In the image you can clearly see a major bone fracture.
Fines for putting your feet on the dashboard
It must be taken into account that the DGT surveillance campaigns closely monitor these bad practices in travel, and that they penalize everything that does not comply with the regulations. Of course, in the event that the co-driver has his feet on the dashboard, the financial penalty would go directly to the driver who, by virtue of article 18 of the regulation, is responsible for ensuring that the rest of the occupants of the vehicle maintain a correct position.