The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) today, Friday, recommended the use of airbag vests for motorcyclists, during presentation of this device for the agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, recalled during the event that one in four deaths on Spanish roads in 2023 were motorcycle users and that his department is carrying out various campaigns to reduce their accident rate.
The new airbag vest the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard It allows you to avoid injuries to the agent’s trunk, neck and head. It inflates automatically in 100 milliseconds thanks to an electronic sensor that detects deceleration or tilt movement. To do this, it is equipped with a cylinder that causes a small explosion. The air immobilizes the neck and head to avoid the typical cervical sprain in the event of a fall. It is external in nature so that it is placed over the motorcyclist’s jacket and has all the reflective elements of the Traffic officer’s uniform. In addition, it is almost weightless so as not to increase the burden on the civil guard. The first batch is made up of 4,661 airbags that cost 2.5 million euros. Another 3,595 units will be distributed throughout 2025, which will ensure that each civil guard has their own protective vest.
The General Director of Traffic, Pere Navarro, has highlighted the long process of choosing the Civil Guard airbag, which has taken almost three years. Various models have been tested, it has been seen which ones were the best and, after approving them, a tender has been launched for their purchase and subsequent awarding. During this period they have been tested in detachments of the Civil Guard and in the Training School in Mérida (Badajoz). The Traffic Group received the first 495 airbags this week and the following will be received before the end of the year. They will be distributed throughout Spain. “All the police equipment that the agent has to use has been taken into account, such as a pistol, defense and handcuffs, so that he adapts,” highlighted the head colonel of the Material Resources Area of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard, José Francisco Arnedo.
The Minister of the Interior has advised its use by motorists, as it is a safety measure that can save lives in the same way as the helmet. “We want to encourage its use and we hope that the Traffic Group will lead the way in what represents an advance in the safety of motorists.” He also highlighted that the DGT and the Interior are concerned about the accident rate in this sector and recalled that the number of fatalities has grown by 37% in the last decade. The fleet of motorcycles and mopeds is around six million, which is 15% of the vehicles that circulate on Spanish roads, but the number of fatalities is 27%. In 2023 485 motorcyclists died (330 on interurban roads and 150 on urban roads). “The risk of suffering an accident per kilometer traveled is 18 times greater on motorcycles than on four-wheeled vehicles,” concluded Grande-Marlaska.
The head of the Interior has recalled some measures that his department plans to implement, such as the mandatory use of gloves on interurban roads, closed footwear, full-face helmets in the case of motorcycles on roads and highways or allowing the use of the right shoulder in case of traffic jams without exceeding 30 kilometers per hour. Added to this will be increasing road tests in the A permit exam for large displacements, making the use of airbags mandatory for driving school students or asking specific questions for motorcycle drivers who recover points for the test, among others.
Grande-Marlaska has highlighted that the airbag vests reinforce the security in which the Civil Guard agents must operate: “We want this act to serve to encourage the use of the airbag among motorists and that the Traffic Group, once again, pave the way for advances in safety for motorists.” One of the agents demonstrated during the event how they work and both the head and the trunk are immobilized and protected against external elements.
The director of the Road Safety Department of the National Motorcyclists Association, Rubén Hilario Domínguez, also spoke at the event, commenting on the high price of these vests, which ranges between 400 and 600 euros, as he highlighted. For this reason, he has asked that the 21% percent of the VAT imposed on this product be reduced to help motorists buy it. Some of the money collected from traffic fines could go towards this grant, in his opinion.
