Ten cars clock up 1,700 fines between them

A STUDY by Linea Directa Foundation has tracked down the cars that have clocked up the most fines in Spain, with eight of the 10 worst offenders Madrid-based, and one each in Malaga and Seville. Between them, the ‘top’ 10 vehicles have accumulated 1,716 fines amounting to €162,656, the study found.
Taking data regarding 770,000 traffic fines given to cars across Spain over the last five years, the insurance company, without naming drivers, has drawn up a list of persistent offenders’ vehicles.
The top place went to a Volkswagen Golf owed by a Madrid driver, with a total of 266 fines amounting to €26,590.
Another vehicle in Madrid, a Citroen Xantia, collected 210 fines, totalling €29,108.
“We assume they are people with nothing to their names, who don’t care whether they get one fine or a thousand, as they think they won’t have to pay,” the group that drew up the study said, explaining that 1.2 million drivers in Spain have been charged for traffic offences more than five times.
Fines for speeding make up half the offences, the study found, followed by parking offences. The most-fined group was found to be made up of experienced male drivers aged between 35 and 44, and the average amount per fine was €208.
Linea Directa revealed that the number of traffic fines in Spain had gone up 80 per cent since the financial crisis began, yet seven out of 10 drivers preferred not to argue and to pay up quickly assuming they were in with little chance of having them cancelled.