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DRIVING

First electric scooter death in Spain puts spotlight on safety

For those who decry the plague of electric scooters which dart about unregulated on city streets, it was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt.

Published: 29 November 2018 13:15 CET
First electric scooter death in Spain puts spotlight on safety
File photo of a man on an electric scooter. Photo: AFP

Now it has emerged that in fact, the new craze for electric scooters had already claimed its first victim: a 92-year-old woman was mown down by one of them as she went for her daily stroll in Esplugues de Llobregat in August.

The woman was knocked to the ground as she shuffled along a pedestrianised section of the town's Rambla with her walking frame by a young man on a scooter who allegedly didn’t see her because he was looking down at his mobile phone.

He reportedly had a passenger on the scooter and the pair were travelling at a speed of around 30 km/h when they ploughed into the nonagenarian, who hit her head against the pavement and died in hospital of her injuries a few days later.

The driver of the scooter is now being investigated by a judge for involuntary manslaughter.

The case has turned the spotlight on the need for nationwide regulations of electrically powered mobility devices such as Segways, scooters and skateboards which now share city streets with cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

READ MORE: Spanish cities grapple with invasion of electric scooters


An electric scooter, part of Lime rental scheme, next to a biciMad parking station in Madrid. Photo: AFP

Rental schemes such as Lime and Wind have seen fleets of scooters flood the streets in cities across Spain.

Although some city councils have introduced regulations for the use of such vehicles, including Barcelona which has banned them from use in pedestrian zones, there is no nationwide directives governing their use.

Spain’sDirectorate-General of Traffic (DGT)said it is working to fast track a basic set of regulations concerning the use of ‘personal mobility vehicles’ but that it would be up to local councils to authorize their use in urban areas.

The basic regulations will allow their use on the roads only and not sidewalks and impose a maximum speed limit of 25 km/h, according to sources published by Spanish news agency Efe.

It will be up to local councils to use bylaws to authorise their use in pedestrian zones, parks or in specially designated lanes.

The DGT regulations would not require users to have a driving licence or insurance or to wear protective headgear.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about Madrid's new traffic restrictions

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DRIVING

How to change the registered address for your car if you move in Spain

If you move within Spain and change address, you'll also need to change the registered address for your car in order to pay vehicle tax. Here's how to do it.

Published: 25 March 2024 15:31 CET
How to change the registered address for your car if you move in Spain

When you buy a car in Spain the driving authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), asks you to register your car so that you (and they) can have a reference of where it is, who owns it and, crucially, where you’ll pay tax on it.

This information is necessary because paying vehicle tax in Spain (known as Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica or IVTM) depends on where in the country you live, and differs slightly depending on the municipality where you are registered.

You pay the tax in the municipality in which the vehicle is registered, and though the exact amount depends on your area and the type of car you have, generally speaking the annual tax is between €112 and €300 for the year.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What you need to know about road tax in Spain

IVTM is a tax you pay at the municipal level, that is, to your local town hall. According to the DGT, “the Traffic Tax of a vehicle is a mandatory tax that is applied on all motor vehicles, allowing them to circulate on public roads throughout the country”.

But what happens if you move?

Well, it depends. If you’re moving but staying within the same municipality, not much, but if you’re moving across the country to a new part of Spain, you’ll need to change your car’s registered address with the DGT.

How can you request a change of tax address for your car in Spain?

Any change of tax address must be requested by the owner of the vehicle or a duly authorised person on their behalf. There are four ways to request it:

Online – this is done through the DGT’s website, which you can find here. If it’s a general application, you shouldn’t need to attach any documentation. You can simply change the address of all your vehicles or select only those you wish to modify, choosing between the registration address or the tax address of the owner.

For vehicles moving from the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla to the Spanish mainland peninsula or the Balearic Islands, or agricultural vehicles or those with any type of legal limitations or restrictions, you must make the application through the special cases option (supuestos especiales on the DGT website).

In this case, you essentially need to get documentation proving that the car has been cleared through customs. If it is an agricultural vehicle, you will need to provide the document showing that you have reported the change in Spain’s Official Register of Agricultural Machinery (ROMA).

By phone –- call 060, which is the number in Spain to get through to the Servicio de Información de la Administración General del Estado, essentially the go-to contact number for all things public services and administration. You can contact the DGT through this number, where they will check that the address you indicate coincides with the one on the INE register and, if so, make the requested change for you.

READ ALSO: The tricks drivers use to pay less in car taxes in Spain

DGT App — If you have the miDGT app, you can also change your address through the platform.

In person — you can also change your vehicle’s tax address at your town hall (ayuntamiento) where you are currently registered (pre-move) or at any DGT traffic office, though you will need to make an appointment online or by phone beforehand. You can do that here.

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