Thanks to Android Auto and mobile adapters, using WhatsApp in the car is very simple, legally and safely. For example, Google Assistant is able to read and send messages without having to touch the touchscreen. And although this function is very useful when we want to warn that we are going to be late due to a traffic jam, for example, it is also used to break the law.
One of the biggest problems encountered by the DGT in recent years is the use mobile apps in the carwith the potential to break the rules. For example, Waze is one of the most popular applications because it allows us to inform other drivers that we have found a speed camera on a section; The rest of the community can receive the notice directly in their car or cell phone.
But the practice that has become the most popular in recent times is report a blood alcohol test the Civil Guard or the Local Police; Although Waze doesn’t let you enter this information, drivers have created WhatsApp, Telegram, and other messaging apps or social media groups to help each other avoid these checks.
While not exactly a new problem, it is now being abused more after the government reduced the alcohol level to 0.2 grams per liter. This is a controversial measure that has been criticized by the hospitality sector because it means that with just one beer we can test positive. Some drivers have decided to fight the new law in their own way, creating communities in which the location of alcohol tests is shared so that others can avoid them by taking an alternate route.
The DGT has clarified on several occasions that it is aware of the existence of these WhatsApp groups and already watching thembut was unable to do anything about it due to a “legal vacuum” which authorizes these practices. This will soon end, as announced by Pere Navarro, director of the DGT, during the IX Forum against road violence. During the closing remarks, Navarro sent a message to the leaders of these groups, calling them “intelligent people” and declaring that these opinions are “absurd and make no sense.”
The legal text that prohibits this practice of notification of controls was already completed, according to Navarro, and all that would remain was the approval to transform it into law so that the DGT could start sending fines, the amount of which has not yet been determined. been clarified. . Currently, the only way for law enforcement to penalize a driver who warns another is to fine of between 100 and 200 dollars for flashing car lights. It is not yet clear whether the new text is based on this basis, or whether it considers that the WhatsApp groups were created to “interfere in the operations of security agents”, in which case the fines could reach 30,000 dollars.
It is also unclear whether the new law will only penalize warnings about alcohol tests, or whether it will also include warnings about speed cameras and other types of checks. If this is the case, the use of applications such as Waze or Google Maps could be punished with a fine in Europe.
