In less than a month we Spaniards will say goodbye to the traditional emergency triangles. And that’s it, January 1, 2026will be replaced by the V16 beacon, the only legal device for pre-signaling danger whose objective is “ … progress in the field of road safety and accident reduction”, according to the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT).
Until now, when a vehicle was stopped on the road due to a breakdown or accident, the driver had to place two emergency triangles, which forced him to get out of the car and travel the road on foot, exposing himself to adverse weather conditions and possibility of being hit.
⚠️V-16 tag or triangles?
✅The #V16 It eliminates the risk of being crushed, as it is easily placed from the window.
🛑The triangles force you to walk 100 meters on the road, putting your life in danger.
We are evolving for your protection!@DGTes pic.twitter.com/FvG8VZgUQd
– Ministry of the Interior (@interiorgob) December 5, 2025
From next January 1, the device that must be used in these cases is the Tag V16a small instrument yellow color “capable of emitting high intensity light at 360º intermittently and continuously for at least 30 minutes”, as reported by the DGT.
The driver must always have this tag on him glove box of the vehicle and, in the event of a breakdown or accident, activate it and place it in the car roof. From the moment it is activated, the device will start to emit a warning light sign whose objective is to warn other drivers of the presence of a stationary vehicle.
One of the great new features of this new danger pre-signaling device is that it is equipped with connectivity. This implies that once activated, the beacon connects to the DGT 3.0 Platform to transmit the vehicle’s location in real time, both on variable message signs on the road and via the navigators of the rest of the vehicles.
An advance in security which has, however, aroused the suspicions of some users, who wonder if this connectivity will not imply excessive control of the vehicle, by allowing its location to be tracked at any time. The creators of the V16 themselves answered this question, Jorge Torre and Jorge Juan Costas, in an interview for ABC.
Does the V16 beacon still track our position?
The two civil guards wanted to reassure the population about the “surveillance” that the V16 beacon exercises over us. “If a manufacturer tried to track the beacons to know where you are, how you drive… automatically they would remove the certification“, explained Torre.
As the Civil Guard pointed out, we would “quickly” detect that we are being hunted. Something that “it wouldn’t be legal” And “it could be a crime“, they explained, since the manufacturer must guarantee “the anonymity of communications” on the box of the device itself and the DGT itself “certifies that these are anonymous communications.” “Neither by regulation nor technically is this achieved, it is impossible to violate it,” Costas insisted.
“If anyone still has doubts and is paranoid, I just have to tell them that if you take the batteries out it won’t work”
Jorge Torre and Jorge Juan Costas
Creators of the V16 tag
However, the creators of the V16 beacon have sent a message to those who still doubt its reliability. “If anyone still has doubts and is paranoid I only have to tell you two things,” said the Civil Guards, who highlighted, first of all, the possibility of completely disconnecting this device: “If you take the batteries out, it won’t work”.
Additionally, Costas highlighted the surveillance that other electronic devices subject us to. “If you’re paranoid, you’d better leave your mobile phone at home, that they don’t go on social media, that they don’t connect to anyone or anything because if anyone is watching and listening to everything they say at all times, it’s the phone.
“We have Alexa at home, we have digital clocks… If anyone knows where we are, what we eat and what we do, it’s them. large multinationals. “They know everything about us,” said the creator of the V16 beacon, which they asked citizens to don’t be “afraid” of this device.
“In addition, any modern vehicle also has SIM card inside, even if people don’t see it. He also communicates and everything modern cars “They have a connection with the car manufacturer,” he added. In this sense, they assured that they were considering using another device that had to be connected via the cell phone: “The DGT preferred to evaluate the confidentiality of the person before making other, more economical solutions.
The DGT specifies: “It does not record personal data”
In this way it is important to know that the V16 tag It only transmits vehicle position when activated and, in no case does it provide personal or car-related data. A question which itself The DGT clarifieda few days ago on their social networks.
The DGT said it was incorrect for the V16 to geolocate the vehicle at any time or send the driver’s personal data. “It only transmits location when activated and only for security reasons. Does not record speed or personal data“.
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