Madrid, Jun 30 (EFE) .- For Pedro (fictitious name), a commercial profession, the car is his way of life. Running out of a driver’s license means not being able to work, a compelling reason that has led him to take the points recovery course twice, after losing eight in three traffic offenses.
In an interview with Efe 15 years after the entry into force of the points card this Thursday, July 1, this 56-year-old man who has been driving since he was 18, says half jokingly: “I am a lose points. “
Because of his work, some days he can do 700 kilometers, many hours behind the wheel that increase the chances of losing points without having to be a bad driver.
“Anyone can be confused and put the shrimp. It has nothing to do with being bad driving or with being a person who likes to break” the rules, “because even if I do many kilometers, I do not usually run excessively,” he says.
And it is that this commercial insists that the three infractions that subtracted points were due more to misunderstandings than to the fact that he wanted to skip the rules on purpose.
RETURN TO THE PUPITRE TO RECOVER POINTS: A GOOD EXPERIENCE
The first time was in 2010 for running an amber traffic light. “You are reluctant to brake hard, you pass and the Police are there, they stop you and say: ‘Big boy, we take four points from you.'”
He did not wait to lose more and immediately took the points recovery course. Twelve hours, spread over two afternoons.
The second and third, at the end of 2020, were due to speeding, one for driving at 50 km / h on a street with a limit of 30 km / h, and another for going 71 km / h on a 50 road km / h. These two infractions resulted in the loss of another four points.
Again, with his personal marker depleted, he did not think twice about returning to the driving school desk.
Both of the first year and the second, which he assures that he followed with great interest, he retains a good memory. “It was a good experience, very interesting and quite instructive”, which he believes all drivers should go through, regardless of whether they lose points or not.
“The first course helped me to update content on road safety after so many years” and, on this basis, the second time I was able to go deeper, be more participatory and “acquire more details”.
TRYING NOT TO FALL AGAIN
“I found a lot of juice in the courses and, although I am going to try not to return, I don’t know if I will succeed,” he says, a little resigned.
Now he drives more carefully so as not to fall into the same mistakes again, but he recognizes the difficulties. “To circulate many times through the same places makes you go less slope, more carefree”, it is justified.
Looking to the future, he is aware that attention will have to be increased, since the reform of the card by points that is being processed in parliament increases the number of points to be withdrawn.
Pedro acknowledges that if this measure did not exist and the infractions carried only an economic sanction, “he would be less careful.”
But in his case, he insists, the card is a means of life. “And if in a moment you lose all the points and you run out of it, you have run out of work.”
By Teresa Díaz
(c) EFE Agency