Spain's traffic department urges people not to use their cars in order not to aggravate traffic chaos
Traffic control room goes black after outage. "We are blind"
The Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) has asked people in Spain to avoid "as far as possible" any journey that involves taking a private vehicle to avoid aggravating the traffic chaos caused by the historic blackout that has left the whole country without electricity.
Traffic sources have asked people not to drive their cara until the power comes back on, especially at rush hour.
The Traffic headquarters in Madrid, as well as the provincial headquarters, are still operating partially "blind" insofar as the information panels, which are not solar-powered, are not sending images of the situation on Spanish roads. In the DGT's main traffic control room, the screens where the videos usually show the state of traffic on the country's motorways have gone black and only those connected to the solar panels are broadcasting images, including those of the accesses to Madrid, which in the early hours of the afternoon are beginning to change from green (flowing traffic) to orange and red (traffic jams).
"The blackout has left us blind," said a DGT source in front of a large panel where most of the screens are black and with the message "This video is not currently available."
To try to alleviate this situation, the DGT has reinforced the deployment of the Guardia Civil traffic police on those roads with the highest traffic density. They are now the 'eyes' of the DGT as the radio connections are working perfectly and the messages from officers are being received both at the headquarters in Calle Josefa Valcárcel and at the provincial headquarters. In any case, the DGT insists that people should avoid travel and, in the event that it is completely necessary, to respect speed limits and safety distances.
