Every day more people make a decision when they get a puncture on the road: call for assistance. We’re not saying it, it’s the data from RACE, who point to tire problems as the second most common reason why they come to the rescue of drivers. And, despite everything, the DGT has a message if you want to forget your belongings to repair a puncture: XX euros fine.
Let others do it. We can fix fewer and fewer things in our cars. And when we have the opportunity, we don’t do it either. We have long reported that assistance companies and driving school teachers have detected a clear trend in drivers: less knowledge of mechanics and less intention to get down to work to carry out a repair.
We are facing a direct consequence of greater complexity in our vehicles, with Star&Stop systems that make it difficult to change a simple battery or irreplaceable LED headlights on the spot, as was the case when we had a set of light bulbs in the trunk of the car. But, furthermore, when we can we don’t want to either.
I’m not going to change the wheel. According to RACE data, the first cause of roadside assistance is changing the battery. The second is replacing the wheel due to a tire problem. Specifically, 12% of the calls they receive at RACE indicate that the driver needs someone to change a tire or repair a puncture.
The trend has long been reflected in the vehicles themselves. The inexcusable spare wheel gave way to smaller “cookie-cutter” wheels that can travel at a maximum of 80 km/h and have limited kilometers. Over the years, puncture repair kits have become popular. Solutions that have been reducing costs for the manufacturer while gaining space in the trunk.
And, everything indicates, customers and manufacturers seem to be happy. Car brands because they do not have to make that financial effort and customers because they do not seem to want the physical effort of changing the wheel that, for years, accounts for most of the roadside calls for help.
And why count on it? At this point, the driver being aware that he is not going to change the wheel, some may have wondered why not do without that replacement tire or the puncture repair kit. Gaps that, without a doubt, can be used to gain more trunk space.
The DGT, however, requires us to have them, regardless of whether we are going to use them or not. Article 1. c) of Annex XII of the General Vehicle Regulations specifies that “all passenger cars” must have the following equipment:
c) A complete spare wheel or a wheel for temporary use, with the necessary tools to change the wheels, or an alternative system to change them that offers sufficient guarantees for the mobility of the vehicle. In these cases, circulation will be carried out respecting the limitations of each alternative.
The fine. As we say, even if a driver has no intention of changing a tire, the truth is that he has the obligation to have the necessary spare parts to carry out that intervention.
We have contacted the DGT and they have confirmed that the fine in this case would be 80 euros, understanding that it is a minor infraction for not having the appropriate elements to carry out the replacement. This should not be confused with the serious infraction that penalizes driving “a vehicle that fails to comply with the technical conditions established by regulation”, which is punishable by 200 euros.
Photo | Jamie Street and David Villarreal Fernández
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