Driving in Valencia? Say "cheese"!

The most hardworking road safety camera in Spain is located in Valencia. It is positioned at kilometer 478.1 of the AP-7, around the service area of Sagunto. According to the results released recently by the Association of European Motorists (AEA) it clicked exactly 59,428 times in 2019, a fair increase from 4.567 fines recorded in 2018. It represents 2% of the speeding offenses recorded by cameras in all of Spain. At 163 fines a day, it is an undisputed record holder.

Behind our champion on the AP-7, the second most active radar is located at kilometer 79.9 of the H-31 in Huelva (with 58,266 drivers denounced last year); the third is at kilometer 156.5 of the A-3 in Cuenca (57.206); the fourth at kilometer 83.8 of the A-92 in Seville (51.915), and the fifth at kilometer 49.2 of the AP-6 in Madrid (49.693).

The study revealed that out of one thousand cameras and 2,9 million offenses in Spain in 2019, only about 50 road safety cameras were responsible for 41 % of all the fines. An increase of 1300% from year to year is nothing special. Some increases were even worse. For example, the camera located at kilometer point 371.2 of the A-8 (Asturias) has gone from making 460 fines in 2018 to 26.039 in 2019. Something similar happened with a camera on kilometer 245.2 of the A-4 in Jaén (almost 44 times more) and the 13.3-kilometer point of the A-4 in Madrid (33.5 times more).

Regardless of its maverick camera, Valencia as a province comes only third on the total list. Most traffic fines last year were recorded in Andalusia (680.000) and Madrid (373.000) With its total of 335.000 fines, Valencia province still has a lot of space for improvement.

So, next time you pass by Sagunto on AP-7, if you don’t want to reduce your speed, at least say “cheese”. You’ll look much better in the photo.