DGT 3.0, the project that controls all cars in real time
The Directorate General of Traffic will see when a car is moved, and where it is travelling from and to on a map and the moment at which it gets into a jam or has an accident. All vehicles: every car, every motorbike and every lorry. The time frame is therefore scheduled for 2026 under one name, DGT 3.0, platform which has been in motion since 2017 and is already in an advanced stage.
The new drive for development is brought about by bidding for a public contract for almost four million euros which has just been submitted by Traffic. This investment is necessary so that in four years, DGT 3.0 works as it was designed to do from the beginning, with the goal of full control.
On the other side of this control, road safety and traffic flow are seen by means of absolute connectivity: that everyone, without even knowing it, informs the DGT of everything. This is ensured by means of 5G technology, mobile phones and, for example, V-16 lights, which will soon be mandatory for going out on the road. And Traffic then redistributes this information.
When it is in full operation, this platform will anonymously connect road users. It will offer them “traffic information in real time […] therefore permitting safer and more intelligent mobility”, in the words of Ana Blanco, assistant deputy director of Traffic of the DGT, in the magazine Tráfico y Seguridad Vial.
Connected V-16 lights
One of the mainstays of the DGT 3.0 project is something as subtle as the new V-16 emergency lights, which on 1 January 2026 will replace the classic hazard warning triangles by law. From that date onwards, only the lights connected to this platform will be legal and while they are in use, they will send their GPS position to the DGT every 100 seconds.
When any vehicle has stopped on the hard shoulder due to a puncture or a breakdown, Traffic will know about this and may report it to the emergency services services or to other drivers. In this case, it will do so via the road panels or by warning each driver individually.
For the second option the DGT has created the V-27 sign, a virtual emergency warning triangle that will appear on the dashboard of the vehicle to announce any danger nearby. Its use will be voluntary and “only in vehicles connected telematically with the National Access Point for Traffic and Mobility”.
