Breaking down in Spain

Hi,

A couple of my friends broke down in their hire car on the motorway this morning, and phoned me in a panic, to try and get hold of hire car company. The clutch had gone, and they were stranded for an hour at the side of the road before the hire car company could get to them. No problem with that, but my friend´s wife said 6 police (Guardia Civil and National) cars drove past without stopping to help or offer assistance. A pretty poor show!

What are the rules or laws regarding this in Spain? Surely police should stop if someone breaks down on the  motorway??

Amatista

Did your friends deploy any warning triangles?

I don´t know

 Hi Amatista

We broke down on a Motorway in Spain on a bend, the clutch had burned out and we we're an Hour and a half from home. We phoned the Emergency Numbers that we we're given and they never heard of us. After about Fifteen Minnutes I got the car going again and left the car in the same gear all the way home. The next Day I gave out stink to them and they gave us a replacement car which was a heap of dirt but was the only car left that they could give us. After our Holiday when we got home we noticed a few week's later that they actually charged us for the clutch on the car which was  around €340. It is now with the Consumers Rights and I am still waiting for an outcome a Year later. Just to let you know that things can get a lot worst.

Regards

John

If you break down or have an accident on the road in Spain, then you must deploy two warning triangles to inform traffic that there is a possible obstruction ahead.

Also, any occupant stepping out of the vehicle must be wearing a high visibility yellow jacket.

Hire car firms are notorious for not supplying the triangles and High-Vis yellow jackets. You need two triangles and enough jackets to cover all the passengers in the hire vehicle.

If your friends hadn't deployed the warning triangles, and were just sat in the car waiting for the hire car company to turn up, then the Guardia Civil and Local Police probably won't stop as they haven't seen any warning triangles to signify that the car has either broken down or been involved in an accident.

Having said that. if they hadn't deployed the warning triangles and the Local Police or Guardia Civil had stopped, they could have been fined on the spot!

Thanks for that Techno Ape. Yes, I know about warning triangles and flurorescent jackets, but I just wondered what the law was regarding police driving past broken down vehicles on the motorway. Perhaps the Guardia thought they were having a picnic beside the A7?

John, that sounds like a nightmare. Funnily enough, my friend´s clutch burnt out too, so I hope he doesn´t get charged for it. I will tell him later to make sure!! Consumer rights?? In Spain? Or did you use a UK firm for car hire? Anyway, good luck with that, and thanks again.

Amatista