The island´s drivers have so far lost a total of 1,300 points

Menorca´s driver-retraining school to open next January

Ciutadella. The Autoescuela Díaz will be the island´s only retraining centre

The driving school, Autoescuela Díaz, will run the only courses on the island for drivers to retrain in order to regain any points deducted from their licences

Christine M. Watterson.Maó

The Ciutadella firm Autoescuela Díaz has been selected by the Spanish Federation of Driving Schools to be the only centre in Menorca which will hold courses through which drivers can regain points deducted from their licences. From next January there will be 12 courses which will enable drivers to make up a partial loss of points and 6 for people who have had their licences confiscated by the courts or who have lost all their quota of 12 points (or 8 in the case of drivers who have held a licence for less than three years).

Although there have so far been no reports of any driver in Menorca losing all their points, there was concern about the lack of a retraining school on the island, the nearest centre involving a trip to Mallorca. The driving school originally nominated to run the courses, Ortega y Associats, backed out of the project, not convinced of the economic viability of the proposal which, amongst other requirements, involved the purchase of computers.

Autoescuela Díaz´s financial outlay will not be so heavy as the school already has the minimum number of computers required. They will need to contract an instructor to take the classes and this person will have to attend a specialised training course in Valencia next month. Francisco Díaz, the driving school´s director, commented last week that he was confident that the Federation would provide the psychologist needed for the courses for drivers trying to regain their licence.

Díaz feels that the retraining centre will not be a financially viable proposition, at least during the first few years. Demand for the service is impossible to predict as it depends on the number of drivers who lose points. In his opinion there are a lot of infringements in town centres which are not sanctioned, such as using a mobile phone whilst driving or not wearing a seat belt.

One of Mallorca´s two centres, located in Palma, has not yet had any takers for the courses despite having offered the service since the beginning of July.

Points lost in Menorca

Since the new system came into effect on 1st July, Menorca´s drivers have lost a total of 1,300 points from their licences. This is approximately 10% of the overall point loss in the Balearic Islands, which currently stands at 10,218.

According to the State Administration´s Island Director, Javier Tejero, the most common reasons for points being deducted from licences on the island are: not wearing a seat belt or crash helmet; using a mobile phone whilst driving; drink/driving; and speeding.

To date nobody on the island has had their licence withdrawn; the most points lost by any one Menorcan driver so far being 9, which was for speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Driver in the Canaries the first to lose his licence

Almost five months after the new system came into force, a driver in the Canary Islands has become the first person in Spain to have their licence withdrawn after losing all 12 points. The 40-year old driver from Arucas in Gran Canaria committed three serious offences at the beginning of July, costing him all his points. However, official paperwork meant that his licence was not revoked until 25th October.

According to official figures, at the end of September some 300 drivers had lost all their points but are still waiting for their licences to be withdrawn.

The Driector General of Traffic has said that the procedure needs to be processed more quickly in order for the sanctions to be effective.