Camouflaged motorcycles to end the madness on two wheels | Spain

Two large-displacement motorcycles circulate a short distance away on the AV-562 highway, in the municipality of Cebreros (Ávila). They do it at a calm speed, enjoying the landscape and the dense forest on both sides of the road. They pass other bikers on their way, who wave to them to greet them. In the opposite direction, up to five and six two-wheeled vehicles pass together, on the way to the town of Avila. What those who greet them do not know is that, on the backs of those motorcycles, completely camouflaged and without markings, two civilian civil guards belonging to the Traffic Group circulate, destined to punish serious infractions committed by the sector in the area, especially during the weekends. This is the star measure that the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) implemented a few months ago together with the armed institute to put an end to a tragic event: in 2023, one in every four deaths in road accidents was a motorcyclist. And this year it is the same figure, despite the fact that the two-wheeled fleet only represents 11.4% of the total (4.1 million of the 36 million registered vehicles).

The motorcycles wear the most common colors acquired by fans of this sector and lack any insignia of the Parque de la Guardia Civil (PGC). Of course, they are equipped with everything necessary to sanction if necessary: ​​breathalyzer, tablet, printer… They always go in pairs to have a greater view of the infractions and raise fewer suspicions. Their function is actually to communicate illegal situations to their uniformed colleagues and for them to be the ones to propose sanctions. “Here we see all types of serious infractions, from invading the wrong direction to take a very sharp curve, not respecting the lateral separation, overtaking in a continuous line, excessive speed… and all of this without taking into account the rest of the road users. ”, comments one of the plainclothes agents. The most daring ones ride without holding the handlebars or standing on the footpegs.

The route chosen to patrol is one of the favorites of motorcyclists, since it has the famous Tamayo curve, which is characterized by being very tight, having a slight change in banking at the exit and a speed limited to 50 kilometers per hour. There the bikers make long routes and not exactly respecting the signs. Some plastic flowers placed on a nearby fence remind us that there has been more than one fatality at that point.

“The prototype of the offending driver has changed. Before they were younger, but now they are motorists between 35 and 45 years old with high displacement vehicles and who only take them on weekends, especially in the morning,” explains the captain of the Traffic Group Miguel Ángel. Martin Bernal. Surveillance with camouflaged motorcycles is joined by that of passenger cars, which began in the middle of Operation Easter Exit, in March 2005. Later, vans and even a truck were added. At the moment the motorcycles only work in five autonomous communities (Galicia, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and Castilla y León), but the intention is to use them in all those where there is a high incidence of accidents on two wheels. “The objective is to increase the subjective feeling of control, so that people feel monitored by not knowing where the motorcycles may be so that no infraction is committed,” highlights Captain Teodoro Casillas, head of the Ávila Traffic subsector. “Of course, we must differentiate between the motorcyclist group that enjoys the motorcycle and complies with the rules and the offending motorcyclist who causes serious problems. Some go very calmly and others do real atrocities,” he adds. The province that he monitors together with his agents is very touristy for two-wheeled vehicles and receives a large number of visits, given its proximity to Madrid.

Radar next to a signal

In the event of any incident, the plainclothes officers transmit by radio the license plate or characteristics of the vehicle (it does not have to be just a motorcycle, although it is the most common) and at the end of the road the offender will be stopped by his colleagues and punished. A camouflaged radar has also been placed next to a sign to report speeding. Added to this is that alcohol and drug tests are carried out, along with checking the motorcycle and the documentation of the vehicle and the driver. On the morning that EL PAÍS was in Cebreros, what was most reported were the non-approved exhausts. “In the spring and summer months, you see veritable floods of motorcyclists in groups of 15 and 20. The roads fill up,” adds the other plainclothes agent. In the coldest months the presence decreases, as happened on the day of this report.

The majority of drivers who were stopped by the Civil Guard to carry out a breathalyzer and documentation check were in favor of this camouflaged surveillance. David Molina, a 23-year-old young man who works in an audiovisual company, held that opinion: “I think it’s good because there are people who put you at risk. If they have a soft hand, fine, but if they go with a very hard hand, I don’t like it.” Molina was fined 200 euros for having a non-approved exhaust pipe. José Gómez, a 59-year-old resident of Guadarrama (Madrid) who is 40 years old on the motorcycle, thinks the same: “It goes very fast and these are roads and not circuits as some think. As long as you get out of it a little…”

There were also dissenting voices such as Rodrigo Cumbreras, a 24-year-old cybersecurity specialist with more than 180,000 trips in five years of driving. “They are collection devices. I even tell it to my father, who is also a civil guard. The solution is to fix the roads, which is why we pay taxes,” he complained. With his large-displacement motorcycle, released a month ago, this resident of Getafe (Madrid) has already traveled 6,000 kilometers.

The president of the National Association of Motorcyclists (24,000 members), Juan Manuel Reyes, believes that the Civil Guard’s camouflaged motorcycles may be adequate to control infractions “but both from motorcyclists and other users”: “We have the hooligans and little abiders of the rules, but we are as good users of the roads as the rest.” He gives as an example that in breathalyzer tests only 0.08% of motorcyclists test positive compared to 15% of the rest of the users who undergo the test. “According to insurance companies, of every 100 accidents in which a motorist is involved, only 25 are their fault and the remaining 75 are the fault of others,” he adds.

Reyes acknowledges that the number of victims is very high, especially when compared to the total kilometers traveled by these vehicles (3% of the total). In his opinion, roads should be improved – especially guardrails, vertical signs and asphalt – and the fleet of two-wheeled vehicles – with an average of 17 years old and mostly lacking modern driving aids – should be modernized. – and increase education and empathy towards motorcycles. While this happens, or not, the Civil Guard’s camouflaged motorcycles will remain in the most conflictive points.