The 11 reasons that could leave you without a car on holiday: fines and penalties that can get your car impounded

July, the start of the holidays for many Spaniards. Everything ready to hit the road, with the car already loaded and prepared but… are you sure you’ve considered everything?

It’s not enough to prepare our car for our long-awaited holiday trip. It’s also necessary to comply with a series of restrictions and precautions if we want to avoid unpleasant setbacks once on the road, with family or friends on board, that could leave us unable to drive or even without a car to continue our journey smoothly.

As well as breakdowns caused by poor maintenance of your car, it is also exposed to your behaviour on the road, because if you commit any of these offences, you may see traffic officers impound your vehicle and not allow you to continue on your way to your destination on the beach or in the idyllic mountain village you were heading to.

Children on board

If you travel with children, you’d better make sure they do so with the appropriate safety measures, that is, with child restraint systems suitable for their age and size. Among the new additions recently made to the General Traffic Regulation is the power granted to officers of the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil to impound any vehicle detected in which children are not travelling with the proper safety measures correctly installed on board. Those two minutes it takes to correctly install a child safety seat should not leave you without a holiday.

Excess occupants

Exceeding the number of occupants authorised to travel in a vehicle is also grounds for impoundment. In addition to carrying a significant fine, it can lead to the vehicle being impounded if the number of authorised seats is exceeded by 50 per cent. The reason is simple: it represents a serious breach of the safety measures established for the vehicle and, above all, for its passengers.

Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs

Whether you’re a heavy drinker or not, many people use holidays to have a couple of drinks from time to time,… and that means they must not get behind the wheel afterwards. It is important not to forget this, because driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs results in the immediate impoundment of the vehicle, as well as significant penalties and legal consequences that may even lead to the withdrawal of your driving licence.

The vehicle will be impounded immediately, unless the driver has a companion who has tested negative for alcohol and drugs in the tests carried out by the officers and can drive the car in their place, or another driver comes to pick up the driver and drive the vehicle for them. As they say, don’t risk it with the drinks this summer.

Worn tyres or windscreen

If the officers who stopped your car find that either the tyres or the windscreen of your car are not in adequate condition due to wear or irregularities that could compromise both the safety of the car and that of other road users, they may also impound the vehicle until it is verified that it is roadworthy.

So make sure your tyres are at the correct pressures and in a suitable condition for use, that is, free from abnormal wear or deformation. The same goes for the windscreen. For the first time this year, officers of the DGT Traffic Group carried out a campaign of inspections of windscreen condition last January, given the structural importance this component has in the car in terms of ensuring safety in the event of impacts and accidents.

If the windscreen does not guarantee the driver’s correct visibility, has cracks or is excessively scratched, the Traffic Guardia Civil may also proceed to impound the vehicle if they doubt its roadworthiness.

Excessive smoke and noise

Excessive smoke emitted from the exhaust pipe of a vehicle can also result in the impoundment of a vehicle on the road, if there is more than reasonable doubt that the car is exceeding permitted emission levels. This is a reason that may become more common in the coming months, given the growing importance that environmental issues have been having in the automotive sector.

And although this type of incident is not very frequent, officers may also order the vehicle to be impounded if they consider that the vehicle exceeds the permitted level of smoke and gases or notice modifications to the vehicle’s exhaust system. This also applies to the high noise level some exhausts produce, a more than decisive factor for the vehicle to be impounded in a residential area until its decibel output when driving has been properly verified.

Use of radar jammers or detectors

The use of jammers or radar detection systems that emit waves is specifically prohibited under current regulations. This offence, considered very serious, carries significant financial penalties as well as point deductions (up to €6,000 in fines and loss of 6 points for jammers, and €200 and 3 points for detectors).

Systems based on geolocation using databases are permitted, but not jammers or detectors. Officers may retain your vehicle and prevent it from moving if they consider it has one of these devices installed on board.

Remember: the best way to avoid a speed camera is to obey the traffic rules.

Valid MOT

The corresponding ITV sticker on the upper right of the windscreen is mandatory for cars that have passed the inspection. If your car does not have one, officers may stop you to check whether it has passed the corresponding inspection or not. Don’t delay the ITV inspection due for your vehicle.

If you are stopped on the road and officers verify that you have not passed it, they will impound your vehicle on the spot and you will have to have it towed to the nearest ITV centre to get it inspected. And even more so if the officers suspect there are well-founded reasons why your car has not passed, that is, deficiencies such as those mentioned elsewhere in this article.

Vehicle defects: lights, bodywork, glass,…

If the officers detected any fault in vehicles on the road that could endanger both their occupants and any other road user, they may stop the vehicle and even order its impoundment until the fault is rectified. Driving with broken headlights, defective brakes, severe damage, broken glass, or simply with faulty lighting can mean your holiday trip is interrupted. Make sure to repair visible defects as soon as possible—and hidden ones too—to guarantee safety and avoid bigger problems.

Valid insurance

Traffic officers can check your vehicle’s insurance details on the spot, even without having stopped your journey beforehand. If they suspect your car is not insured they can consult the database of Unespa and find out whether the vehicle you are driving is properly insured or not. Before setting off on holiday, check that it is and that you have not left your insurance premium unpaid.

Valid documentation: trailers and overloading

Excessive loading of a vehicle can also result in it being stopped and impounded by traffic officers until the problem is rectified. If you are going to load your car, remember that everything has a limit, including the height of the load on the roof rack. Even if the sky is infinitely high, your car neither can nor should make use of it. As well as causing a significant increase in your car’s consumption and emissions, it also seriously reduces its stability, especially on bends or sharp turns.

The lack of proper securing of heavy loads in car boots also causes accidents when these shift during sharp or severe turns. Make sure to secure and distribute the load properly in your car and, where possible, avoid approaching or exceeding the limits set by the vehicle manufacturer.

Appropriate clothing and equipment

If the driver lacks appropriate clothing for driving, they may also be stopped and their car impounded until they have it. On holiday, especially in coastal areas, it is common to see drivers operating their vehicle in flip-flops or unsuitable footwear, or even barefoot. This poses a serious risk while driving and should be avoided wherever possible. Although it is especially noticeable with motorcyclists, it can also be detected in car drivers and result in the vehicle being impounded. Remember, when you drive, do so wearing suitable footwear and clothing.