Urban speeding and 30 km/h zones: when it becomes a crime (Article 379.1 CP)

On the open road, reaching the criminal speed threshold requires striking figures: more than 200 km/h where the limit is 120. In town the opposite is true: because streets are limited to 20, 30 or 50 km/h, the threshold for the road safety offence in Article 379.1 of the Spanish Criminal Code (CP) is reached at speeds that many drivers would not even perceive as reckless on a motorway. This article explains why urban roads and 30 km/h zones are the terrain where speeding most easily becomes a criminal case, and how it is defended. You can read more on our page about urban speeding offences.

The urban threshold of Article 379.1 CP

Article 379.1 CP sets a purely objective test: there is a crime when you drive exceeding the regulatory limit by more than 60 km/h on an urban road (and by more than 80 km/h on an interurban road). In town, then, what matters is not the absolute speed you were doing, but the excess over the limit of that specific stretch.

There is no requirement that the driving created a concrete danger to anyone or that an obvious risk situation arose: once the threshold is crossed, the offence exists in itself. It is an offence of abstract endangerment. That is why it is decisive to verify which limit was actually in force at that precise point of the street.

Why low city limits change everything

Since 2021, most urban streets with a single lane per direction are limited to 30 km/h, single-lane streets with a level surface to 20 km/h, and only those with two or more lanes per direction keep the 50 km/h limit. This means the 60 km/h margin of the offence is used up at speeds that are modest for a road:

• Street at 20 km/h: a crime above 80 km/h.
• Street at 30 km/h (30 zone): a crime above 90 km/h.
• Street at 50 km/h: a crime above 110 km/h.

The contrast is striking: driving at 95 km/h is perfectly legal on many conventional roads, but on a 30 km/h street that same speed is a crime under Article 379.1 CP. The spread of 30 km/h zones has multiplied the points on the map where a brief burst of speed crosses, without the driver realising it, the line into the criminal sphere.

Penalties for the offence on urban roads

Punishable urban speeding carries the same penalties as any other case under Article 379.1 CP. There are three alternative penalties, of which the court imposes one:

• Imprisonment of 3 to 6 months, or
• A fine of 6 to 12 months (with daily instalments set according to means), or
• Community service of 31 to 90 days.

And, in every case, the court adds disqualification from driving motor vehicles and mopeds for more than one year and up to four years. Whatever the main penalty, the loss of the licence is unavoidable. When that disqualification exceeds two years, moreover, the licence loses its validity and the driver must sit the test again to recover it.

The line with the administrative fine

Below the +60 km/h threshold, urban speeding is not a crime: it is an administrative traffic offence resolved through the ordinary penalty route, with a financial fine and loss of licence points, no criminal proceedings and, above all, no criminal record. The practical difference is enormous:

	Administrative offence	Crime (Art. 379.1 CP)
Urban threshold	Excess below +60 km/h	Excess of more than +60 km/h
Consequence	Fine and loss of points	Prison, fine or community service + loss of licence
Criminal record	No	Yes, a criminal record
Procedure	Administrative file (DGT / City Council)	Criminal Court / fast-track trial

One of the most valuable defence strategies in these cases is precisely to have a matter initially framed as a crime steered back to the administrative route where the measurement margins allow it.

It is worth stressing that the two routes are not simply cumulative: the ne bis in idem principle prevents punishing the same act twice. Where the courts find the offence, the administrative traffic penalty gives way to the criminal response; where the offence is not established, the traffic fine comes back into play. That is why the initial classification of the excess — whether it sits above or below the 60 km/h threshold once the margins are applied — shapes the whole procedure. Being clear about this line from day one stops a driver from accepting as inevitable a criminal conviction that may not be warranted.

Urban speed cameras: measurement and margin of error

City streets host speed cameras of very different kinds — fixed cameras in cabins or gantries, average-speed (section) cameras, mobile devices in unmarked vehicles or on tripods — each with its own requirements of installation, angle and use. Because the offence is purely objective, the defence almost always focuses on the reliability of the measured speed:

1. Current verification and calibration. Every speed camera is a measuring instrument subject to legal metrological control and must pass periodic verifications. We always request the certificate in force: a lapsed or missing verification undermines the validity of the reading.

2. Regulatory margin of error. Metrological rules recognise a margin of error that must be deducted from the reading. At speeds sitting at the borderline of the threshold, applying that margin correctly can bring the excess below 60 km/h and steer the conduct back to the administrative route.

3. Conditions of use in the urban environment. Dense traffic, street furniture, bends and other vehicles can affect the angle and capture of the camera; incorrect use weakens the evidential value of the reading.

4. Internal consistency of the police report. We check that the speed recorded in the notice, the figure shown in the photograph or frame, and the one stated in the report all match, and that the device's date and time were correctly synchronised. Any discrepancy between these elements weakens the case for the prosecution, which bears the entire burden of proving the excess beyond reasonable doubt.

Signage and the boundaries of the 30 km/h zone

The most distinctive feature of the defence on urban roads is signage. Unlike the open road, where limits are stable and well known, in town avenues at 50, streets at 30, areas at 20, stretches under roadworks and transition sections all coexist within a few metres. We check:

• Which limit actually applied at the precise point of measurement, not on the street in general.
• The vertical signage (zone entry and exit signs) and, where relevant, the horizontal signage (road markings and 30 pictograms painted on the surface).
• The correct delimitation of the 30 km/h zones and traffic-calmed stretches, whose entry and exit must be properly signposted.

An error or deficiency in the applicable limit completely changes the calculation of the excess and, with it, the very existence of the offence.

Identifying the driver and the fast-track trial

In automatic captures it is not always established who was driving: the prosecution must prove the identity of the driver, not just of the vehicle. Falsely attributing the driving to a third party, incidentally, can carry its own criminal liability, so identification should be handled with proper advice.

These matters are usually processed through the fast-track trial, held within a few days. That leaves little room to prepare a defence if you do not act from the very start, but it also opens an opportunity: where admitting the facts is advisable, a guilty plea before the duty court attracts a one-third reduction of the penalty sought, which also allows the exact length of the driving ban to be negotiated. The decision to plead or go to trial should never be taken blindly: it depends on the strength of the measurement.

Specialist criminal defence in road safety

The settled case law of the Supreme Court on road safety offences underlines the objective nature of these offences and the central role of technical evidence. So, faced with a charge of urban speeding, examining the police report, the speed camera certificate and the signage of the stretch usually makes the difference between a crime and a mere fine.

Alonso Sala is a firm devoted exclusively to criminal law, based at Calle Velázquez 27 in Madrid and covering the whole of Spain. We analyse each measurement and the signage of the road before making any decision on defence or a guilty plea.