Madrid judge has ruled that driving listening to music with one headphone in one ear is not an offence.

The judge in the Contentious-Administrative Court 3 in Madrid ruled that José Miguel Ayllón Camacho need not pay the 150 € fine which he was issued by the Tráfico Guardia Civil in February last year when he was driving on the A-6 Madrid to A Coruña road.
The Guardia said that it was a ‘falta grave’ listening to music with a headphone connected to the radio.

However the judge has considered that the driver did not break the article 65.4f of the Royal Decree 339/1900 traffic legislation which says the use of headphones or other objects which diminish the required permanent attention needed for driving, is a serious infraction.

The judge considered wearing one headphone need not be a distraction, and that according to the legislation the radio itself could be regarded as a distraction, and yet they are installed in cars as standard. He said reasonable interpretation of the law meant that both headphones needed to be worn for the offence to be valid.

The State Attorney, who was in court, called on the judge to leave the fine in place but the judge noted that the driver had asked the Guardia to note on the fine that only one headphone had been used. The judge’s decision cannot be appealed as the fine involved is less than 18,000 €.