Summer Driving – Dos and Don´ts – Part 5

In this series about summer driving dos and don’ts, we have looked at keeping ourselves and our passengers safe in the vehicle, by not doing things like putting our feet on the dashboard, or our arms out of the window, and keeping ourselves secure by wearing a seat belt properly. This week we are going to look deeper at vehicle security, namely in the carrying of items.

Everything we carry in our vehicles must be carried correctly, and by correctly, we mean it must be secured, and it must not protrude from the vehicle. Also, all vehicle doors, which includes the boot, must be securely closed.

The reason we say this is because another common occurrence on the roads at this time of year is vehicles heavily overloaded, not necessarily by weight, but by volume. There are far too many occurrences when cars are going to or from the beach and are filled with all of the paraphernalia for a day in the sun, like the picnic box, towels, of course, and then perhaps a marque, or tent, inflatables, a surfboard, a table and chairs… The list can go on.

If you are driving a vehicle that is carrying a load in the car, you have to make sure that the load is restrained properly. Load restraint is not just about making sure that the load does not come off, it is also about making sure that the load does not shift in a way that makes the vehicle unsafe to handle or allows the load to crash into the driver’s cabin, which may cause injury or death.

The Spanish Traffic Law requires that any load carried on or in your vehicle must:

Not be placed in a way that makes your vehicle unstable or unsafe.

Be secured so it won’t move or fall from your vehicle while driving—including driving consisting of emergency braking or turning suddenly.

Not project from your vehicle in a way that is likely to injure a person, obstruct the path of other drivers or pedestrians, or damage another vehicle or anything else.

Be restrained using an appropriate load restraint method. Anything on the back seats must be secured with seat belt.

It is advisable that you use the boot, rather than the saloon. In case you need to carry load in the vehicle, use the seat belt to ensure the load, and if you carry heavy things, use a car net, it is forbidden to take heavy load without a load restraint net.

In the case of inflatables, take them uninflated. For the avoidance of doubt, the situation in the image accompanying this article is not permitted.