RACE accuses Madrid City Council of adopting measures that go against road safety

For the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (RACE), some of the measures that Madrid City Council has introduced in the draft of the “Future Sustainable Mobility Ordinance” go against the main road safety criteria and do not take into account the mobility model that a city like Madrid requires.

According to RACE, some of the proposals that Madrid City Council is considering imposing on mobility “go entirely against the road education that citizens receive from an early age, which includes respect for traffic rules and maintaining the authority of traffic signs“.

Among the measures criticised by RACE is the permission to cross without using pedestrian crossings on so-called “30 streets” (single-lane roads whose maximum speed will be reduced from the current 50 km/h to 30 km/h). RACE considers this measure an authentic “recklessness that puts the physical integrity of pedestrians themselves at risk”.

The Madrid council also wants to authorise cyclists to ride in both directions along a one-way street (what is currently riding against the direction of traffic) or turn right at red traffic lights. For RACE, these measures are contrary to what is established in the Traffic Code and put both pedestrians and drivers at risk.

For RACE, “sustainable mobility does not consist of giving free rein to specific groups, such as cyclists, to circulate through the capital, but rather in taking safe measures aimed at respecting everyone who makes up the mobility of a city: motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians,…”

RACE also recalls the necessary requirement that both municipal and private bicycles have insurance and can be identified by a number plate, given that they share public roads with other vehicles.

As various associations in the automotive sector and its main representatives have already done, RACE considers it essential to “harmonise and agree” on common principles for all ordinances on sustainable mobility in all cities that guarantee citizens safety and knowledge of all the rules in every city”.

RACE criticises Madrid City Council’s decision not to count on them to develop these and many other functions, given their experience in this field. RACE has been chosen by the UN to manage the only centre in the world for training in mobility and road safety.