Nearly 1,500 fines issued in the first month of Alicante’s new radars

The installation of new speed cameras in Alicante last January resulted in a wave of sanctions. The devices recorded roughly 1,500 violations in total during the initial 30 days of operation. The devices that detected the most racing violations were located on Avenida de Dénia and Avenida de Elche, which are located opposite the Palmeral.

In a statement issued on Friday, April 25th, the Alicante City Council reported that the new radars, which were installed on the primary arteries entering and exiting the city, detected 1,491 vehicles who exceeded the legal speed limit during their initial month of operation, which spanned from January 17th to February 17th. Nevertheless, the Department of Urban Mobility has praised the implementation of these measures, stating that they have successfully reduced the established speed limit by 50 km/h, thereby enhancing road safety.

The City Council emphasises that violations have decreased in comparison to the trial period, during which the radars were operational but fines were not issued. Specifically, the number of drivers detected daily decreased from an average of 134.5 between January 1st and 20th to 49.7 in the first 30 days of their official commissioning.

The radars installed near Vistahermosa on Avenida Dénia have been the most “fruitful” in this first month of operation, according to the same sources. They have recorded 1,032 violations, followed by those on Avenida Elche with 436 and those on Avenida Caja de Ahorros, which is located opposite the Ángel de la Guarda private school, with 23. The savings institutions situated on Avenida Villajoyosa in La Cantera have not recorded any offenders.

Urban Mobility Councillor Carlos de Juan stated that “an initial evaluation of the consequences of the new radars’ implementation indicates a general decrease in speed below the established limit of 50 km/h, resulting in an enhancement in road safety and a decrease in the likelihood of accidents.”

The four new radars that were installed to regulate the speed limits on the primary access roads to the city, which are restricted to 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph), were operational on January 17th. In the quarry, the devices (which are interchangeable) are designated to the posts installed on the Avenida of Dénia (Vistahermosa), Elche (San Gabriel, Euipo, and El Palmeral), Caja de Ahorros, and Villajoyosa.

Alicante City Council awarded Smartpol Gestión SL a contract in September of last year to supply four new multi-lane Doppler speed cameras affixed on poles for traffic speed control. The total value of the contract is €290,673.77.

The contract allowed for the installation of five new poles to contain the radars in addition to the four existing ones, as the radars are capable of being relocated from one location to another. In addition, Alicante has seven additional poles that are equipped to accommodate fixed radars: three on Avenida de Elche, one on Avenida de la Universidad, one on Avenida de Dénia (La Goteta), another on Avenida de Villajoyosa, and the final one on Avenida de La Goleta in Cabo de la Huerta, the access road to Playa San Juan.