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The highly controversial V16 emergency beacon that became mandatory in Spain on January 1 might not be the safety breakthrough the government promised. According to the Guardia Civil, the device could actually be putting stranded motorists at risk by broadcasting their exact location to potential thieves and criminals.

 

The beacon works by automatically sending the geolocation of a broken-down vehicle to the DGT, but here's the problem: that information is accessible to anyone in real time through a public website. If your car breaks down on a quiet secondary road at night, a gang of thieves could theoretically use that data to find you while you're at your most vulnerable.

 

"This system is not only compromising road safety, but also public safety, by openly facilitating the exact location of a broken-down or wrecked vehicle. In these first days of the year, the device is proving completely ineffective and is opening dangerous doors for criminals to steal vehicles or belongings, taking advantage of the isolation and vulnerability in which the driver is left, often in the middle of nowhere," a spokesperson for the JUCIL association of Guardia Civil officers said.

 

Minister for the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska dismissed these concerns last week, insisting that geolocation "poses no risk" to drivers. He argued the beacon will actually increase safety because "with this system, the Traffic Authority automatically knows that there is a broken-down vehicle in an area and alerts all units. The Traffic Authority is aware of this situation, so I believe the risk decreases significantly."

 

However, JUCIL isn’t in the least bit satisfied with this reassurance and is now is calling for a complete review of the system.

 

The Unified Association of Guardia Civil (AUGC) takes a slightly softer line, saying they don't believe the V16 will spark a wave of highway robberies and asking that "no alarmism be created" since "to date, no cases have been reported." Which is fair enough, but the beacon has only been compulsory for a few days. The AUGC says they'll be monitoring the situation closely to see if these crimes do materialise.

 

What does worry the AUGC is the potential for dodgy operators to exploit the system. Diego Madrazo, Traffic Coordinator at AUGC, explains the concern about so-called pirate tow trucks: "We are concerned about opportunistic businesses that, under a false guise of legality, offer unsolicited services. Tow trucks that haven't been properly arranged may arrive at the scene of an accident and confuse the user, removing their vehicle without signing the necessary paperwork. In that case, the driver could be forced to pay 200 or 300 euros for the vehicle's recovery because their insurance company won't cover it, having contracted a different roadside assistance service."

 

The AUGC agrees with JUCIL that the geolocation system needs tightening up.

 

Mr Madrazo suggests a more sensible approach: "The signal shouldn't be visible on a national website, but rather geofenced within a two- or three-kilometre radius so that it's only visible to vehicles travelling through that area. It makes no sense that if I'm in A Coruña I can see a beacon that's in Madrid."

 

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Image: DGT