The Directorate General of Traffic has issued a warning to Madrid drivers: four new speed cameras are now in operation in the Community of Madrid, two of which are section cameras on one of the busiest weekend leisure roads, the M-501. The other two are fixed speed cameras located on the M-601 and M-100, so if you are traveling in the mountains, the west, or the north corridor, you should start easing off the gas pedal.
The so-called Pantanos road, the M-501, now has two section speed cameras that monitor the average speed in both directions around the San Juan reservoir, an area with a high accident rate associated with leisure travel.The control extends between kilometers 46+224 and 42+375, both in the direction of Navas del Rey towards Pelayos de la Presa and in the opposite direction. This radar does not “trigger” at a specific point; instead, it records your license plate at the beginning and end of the section and calculates your average speed. If you exceed the limit (for example, 90 km/h, depending on the specific section), you will receive a fine even if you have never reached a very high peak speed.
The DGT has chosen this section because it has a high volume of traffic at weekends, especially in spring and summer, when thousands of Madrid residents travel to the San Juan reservoir to swim or practice water sports. The stated objective is to reduce speeding on straights and false flats, which are behind a large proportion of serious accidents on this road.
M-601 and M-100: two new fixed speed cameras
Along with the speed cameras in the west, the DGT has activated two fixed speed cameras on heavily used regional roads:
- M-601 (Collado Villalba): at kilometer 0+930, in the ascending direction, just off the junction with the A-6 towards the mountains (access to Navacerrada and Puerto de Cotos).
- M-100 (San Sebastián de los Reyes): at kilometer 22+940, near the Jarama River, a corridor connecting the northern metropolitan area with the A-1 and the Henares axis.
In both cases, the DGT justifies their installation due to the combination of heavy daily traffic, the presence of junctions and changes in the road layout, and a history of accidents that made it advisable to reinforce speed control.
These are in addition to the existing speed cameras in the region (the A-5 within the capital, the AP-6 in the Guadarrama tunnel, the A-4 at km 46.9 and the two on the N-320), bringing the total number of average speed cameras in Madrid to ten, in addition to dozens of fixed and mobile speed cameras on highways and ring roads.
Traffic has announced that the first month of operation will be without effective penalties, as an adjustment period for drivers, during which speeds will be recorded and the actual behavior on the road will be assessed. After this period, the speed cameras will begin to issue fines as normal, and violations will be processed as with any other speed camera: from fines for slightly exceeding the limit to the loss of points when the limits are exceeded by a greater margin.