Drivers in Spain should be aware of a new road safety campaign involving radar cameras that monitor how close vehicles are to each other. Breaches of the minimum 70-metre stopping distance could result in fines of €200 and four points on the culprit’s driving licence – making insurance more expensive and creating the risk of licences being revoked.
In place since 1 July 2025, the new traffic measure has seen signs erected on Spanish autopistas (toll motorways) and autovías (dual carriageways). A red circle containing the figure “70 m” between two cars is depicted on a blue background where white cars, trucks and motorbikes are shown against a radial pattern. These signs indicate the stretches of road where monitoring is taking place.
The campaign and introduction of penalties follow 78 road deaths and 273 serious injuries in motorway crashes in 2024. But, despite these sobering statistics, not all drivers are in agreement about the crackdown and how it works.
La nova norma de la DGT per buidar-nos les butxaques: distància de 70 mts a autopista o 200€ i/o 6 punts de retirada.
— Ness (@NessCisa) September 6, 2025
Bravo, lladres 👏🏻👏🏻#DGT #lladres #multes #pocasoltes pic.twitter.com/ZuatSQGAox
Criticism
Some point out how common it is for other drivers to pull into the space left between two vehicles, reducing the stopping distance between cars and putting the driver behind at fault although he or she has no control over the actions of the person now ahead.
However, officials insist the monitoring and €200 penalty are meant to focus on intentional tailgating rather than momentary reductions in stopping distances. Persistent offenders who ignore the rules could find themselves penalised to the tune of €500 per breach.
Critics also note that, although modern cars are equipped with driver assistance tools such as adaptive stopping distance settings, those instruments do not yet inform drivers how far away they are exactly from the vehicle in front.
⚠️ Lanzamos la nueva campaña de Seguridad Vial “Bajá un cambio. 10 km/h hacen la diferencia entre la vida y la muerte”, la cuarta acción de concientización sobre los riesgos de la velocidad en las calles, junto a la Iniciativa @BloombergDotOrg y @VitalStrat. pic.twitter.com/pgY0Wvx6eU
— Municipalidad de Córdoba (@MuniCba) September 4, 2025
Different attitudes
Safe stopping distance calculation according to speed of travel has long been a part of driver training in some countries, such as the UK, where breaches are considered not only dangerous but discourteous and intimidating.
Elsewhere, such as Belgium, there are no defined safe stopping distances, and it is common for drivers to tailgate others even at high speed on motorways and to see the practice as a legitimate way to tell others to get out of the way. Belgium does not operate a licence penalty point system either, reducing the incentive for drivers to behave well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Belgium has historically had one of the worst road death records in developed Europe.
One way to maintain a reasonably safe distance between vehicles no matter the speed of travel is to follow the mantra: “Only a fool breaks the two-second rule.” This involves allowing at least two seconds between the point at which the car ahead passes a chosen marker, such as a tree or a white line, and one’s own passage. Finns recommend a safe stopping distance of four seconds. In July 2024, Finland achieved a full year of zero road deaths in Helsinki.
