GNR fundraising teams tomorrow start a week of pulling over drivers who are seen not to be wearing seat belts whilst driving.
Restraint systems for children will also be targeted in an operation that starts on Monday March 10th.
The GNR operation will run until March 16th and GNR soldiers will of course be on "roads where violations for failure to use restraint devices are more frequent," according to a briefing note.
In 2013, as part of the ‘Tispol - Seatbelt Operation,’ 51,106 drivers were stopped and inspected with an astounding 1,767 drivers being done for driving without wearing a seatbelt, or for not using a proper system safely to secure children passengers.
"These devices reduce the occurrence of injury or its severity for the occupants of a car in a car crash" according to advice from the General Command of the GNR which added that the road accidents statistics for Portugal "continue to provide hard figures on this, most particularly for children, but also for those youths and adults who are not wearing seat belts in the rear seats of passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles."
Obvious advice as this may seem, many continue to flout the law through stupidity or habit. You have been warned.
Beware also of the hefty fines for transporting the family dog if it is unrestrained in the car, or without the correct licensing documentation.
News just in from a reader who was stopped 15 months ago for using her mobile phone while driving. This naturally resulted in a stiff roadside fine but this was not the end of the matter as last week she received a letter instructing her to attend an obligatory course costing €175, to be held during working hours, in Portuguese. Non-attendence would mean a 60 day suspension of her license.
Remember the GNR has financial targets too as part of the government’s ‘re-modelling’ of state funding. Paperwork errors are common triggers for fines, it’s not as if you have not been warned.
