Overtaking a Guardia Civil on the highway can be a nerve-wracking experience for drivers. Many feel intimidated or unsure of the legal requirements.
When the Guardia Civil is driving in the right lane, a line of vehicles often forms behind them, hesitant to overtake. This hesitancy to overtake authorities leads many drivers to stay put.
However, the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico), Spain’s traffic authority, has emphasized for years that there is a clear answer to these widespread doubts. Not only is it legal to overtake a patrol car on the highway; under certain conditions, not overtaking can even impede traffic flow.
The General Highway Code stipulates that all standard traffic rules must be strictly observed during any overtaking maneuver. This means that there is no legal leeway to overtake a patrol car if it is traveling at the speed limit.
On a rural road, for example, overtaking at a speed of 90 km/h constitutes speeding if one attempts to exceed that speed, which is a criminal offense. Since the DGT abolished the additional 20 km/h overtaking margin on such roads, there are no longer any exceptions: overtaking is only legal if the speed limit is not exceeded.
On a motorway with a speed limit of 120 km/h, however, it is perfectly acceptable to overtake an official vehicle at 100 or 110 km/h as long as the speed limit is respected and the traffic signs permit it. However, abrupt braking upon visual contact with an official vehicle can pose a serious risk and result in rear-end collisions and fines.
The traffic authorities remind drivers that official vehicles behave like any other vehicle unless they are on emergency duty. However, there are some exceptions when it comes to overtaking a Guardia Civil vehicle. As a rule, police vehicles drive without flashing blue lights or sirens, and in these cases, they have no special right-of-way over other traffic. However, as soon as they activate their lights or audible signals, they have absolute priority. Attempting to overtake at this moment would not only be illegal but also punishable.
