Every day, thousands of vehicles travel on the roads of the province of Córdoba at a pace that breaks down in the event of an accident. road accidentwhich not only breaks this dance of wandering on the asphalt, but also devastates lives.
Ensuring road safety and compliance with regulations for those who get behind the wheel is the primary task of the troops who make up the Traffic Sub-Sector of the Civil Guard. ABC accompanied a motorized patrol from the Córdoba detachment, made up of more than fifty soldiersto discover first-hand and in detail the work carried out every day by these road sentinels.
Its members, Manuel Hidalgo and Alfonso Tenoare two professionals with several decades of experience in uniform, who specify, before starting the tour, that “we are all part of traffic, from the moment we raise our foot from the bed: we use public transport, private vehicles or sidewalks as pedestrians “We must be aware of this.”
The day starts with a patrol Southern Highway“main road always monitored due to the volume of traffic (especially its central section – from kilometers 399 to 408 -, or more conflicting points like the Cuesta del Espino). We also do not forget secondarybased on the accident rate they record. From there, if the service and staff allow it, the rest of the routes are controlled,” comment the agents.
Officers guarding the Southern Highway.
The daily service of the traffic subsector troops, contrary to popular belief, is not only aimed at preventing drivers from pressing too hard on the accelerator. “Indeed, we are specifically specialized in transport monitoring, in addition to traffic monitoring and discipline.
Check that the carriers Compliance with rest and driving times (tachograph analysis), the fact that they have the required documents or that the vehicle does not exceed the authorized weight, are some of the questions that officers check compliance with.
Rafael, a truck driver from the province who goes from road to road “since I finished my military service and I am now 63 years old”, is the first of the team that the agents arrest. “Everything is in order”the guards inform the driver, who expresses himself openly: “The transport business is a very big shit. “I don’t do long trips anymore because it’s very demanding.” He recognizes that “normally, I comply with everything because complaints are already very expensive, they affect a lot and I am independent.”
Just as Rafael drives off, a few meters away, a van is hit. mistake and stops in the middle of a roundabout. Manuel and Alfonso don’t waste a second and come to his aid. “Aid is very frequent and, without a doubt, it is the most satisfactory services for us”, they explain while pushing the vehicle towards the ditch to avoid collisions.
Back on the road, the supervisors emphasize the importance of blackheads of the different roads in road surveillance. It is true that there are less predictable factors, such as the appearance of animals on the road or a section of road in poor condition. However, as they warn, “we should all try to have a more defensive driving. But in the passenger compartment of the car, the occupant has the false impression of being protected, and that nothing can happen to them.
The work of teams like the one made up of Manuel and Alfonso is perfectly coordinated with that of the colleagues who work in the research units. “When there are serious injuries or accidents with considerable damage, that is to say more complex cases, they take charge, although we carry out certain preliminary procedures which include all the information that we can collect.”
The patrol carrying out a drug check
Among the tools available to the troops for these and other tasks, the Tramo system (Mobility Processing of Accidents, Complaints and Management of General Traffic Information) stands out: a database that facilitates the collection of information on accidents at all its stages, including geolocation. , images, descriptive and referential data, among others. They also have a transportation app or SIGO system (Integrated System for Operational Management, Analysis and Citizen Security), a telematic information platform with which agents can consult real-time data on citizens that allows them to immediately know the history of a potential delinquent or delinquent.
“There are some very reckless people; “We saw drivers shaving while driving or with their feet on the dashboard,” they say.
“Doing a simple inspection can give you an alert of citizen security: mistreatment, olive theft or, as on one occasion, a deer’s head cut off in a trunk. You encounter a lot of things. And it is also surprising to note the recklessness of some people with actions that can provoke dangerous distractions: female drivers put on makeup while driving; others, while shaving, or with one foot on the dashboard and, like me, with the cell phone,” the agents say.
Drugs while driving
Precisely, at the next checkpoint established by the Civil Guards, the SIGO marks in red a judicial report concerning the driver of a Ford, who is arrested to carry out a drug check in the kilometer 276 of the N-432. “However, at the moment he is not violating the criminal measure imposed on him, so we limit ourselves to carrying out the obligatory test because apparently he has symptoms that make us think he could be positive for substances” , comments the agent. . Gentleman.
Before carrying out the first test, the driver admits that he is “high”, so the result of the saliva test carried out (there is a second one which is sent to the laboratory) confirms his confession.
“Not only on weekends, but every day, examinations of this type are carried out by the teams on duty. It is true that, in our experience, it seems that people are now more aware than before, when the driving license was not based on points. But obviously, cases like the one we just witnessed continue to happen.
The accused not only leaves with this sanction under his arm: he also takes another for not having passed the CT. But before doing so, he apologizes to the agents. “We appreciate these gestures because people need to know that we are here to prevent, help and help make the roads safer.”
