DGT 3.0: the road authority modernises its vision of safety with three new measures

Susana Gómez Garrido, deputy director of Vehicles at the DGT, spoke at an event about the revolutionary actions that will soon be put into motion under the “DGT 3.0 plan, an initiative towards smart and safer mobility“.

These are the three keys to the DGT’s new 3.0 action plan:

1. A telematics platform that will inform drivers about road conditions

Susana Gómez Garrido has confirmed that within two years the DGT will launch a technology to inform drivers about road conditions.

“The world’s first government platform focused on informing the driver, completely detached from the punitive concept. We will offer services to citizens using new technologies so that they are better informed,” said the deputy director of the DGT.

2. Creation of a vehicle classification by safety level

The Deputy Director of Vehicles at the Directorate-General for Traffic also anticipated that they are studying the introduction of a classification of the vehicle fleet according to its safety level, similar to the one currently applied to polluting emissions.

This classification, according to Susana Garrido, “would label vehicles according to their safety level, taking into account elements such as airbags, seatbelt reminders, collision warnings, lane-change sensors, pedestrian-collision warnings…”.

On the other hand, the DGT spokesperson commented that “tax incentives for safe vehicles should be considered, as well as the widespread adoption of ADAS systems in passenger transport vehicles”.

3. Massive digitalisation of data to make better road safety decisions

The DGT wants to launch a comprehensive data digitalisation system that would facilitate decision-making on road safety.

We are expanding the information in the national vehicle register, which has gone from being a purely administrative register to a register whose information is key to adopting decisions on road safety. In this way, any information or incident affecting the useful life of vehicles will be recorded; currently, Euro NCAP star ratings and the vehicle’s usage regime (renting, leasing, carsharing…) are already recorded. We are incorporating safety features, mileage, environmental parameters, and we are working on digitising the vehicle’s maintenance logbook (breakdowns, repairs), total losses resulting from serious accidents, etc. Manufacturers’ safety-related recalls – call-backs for inspection – should also be automated so that they are traceable in the vehicle register