Yes, it seems a car owner can be fined by authorities for having the upholstery in poor condition.
In November 2021, a report was shared on X about a situation that its author had recently experienced. After police officers ordered him to stop driving – and after confirming that he had the necessary inspection, insurance and documentation to drive – he was questioned about the state of the “seat of his old car”.
The first image accompanying the narrative shows what appears to be a notification of the fine resulting from an infraction detected on November 11, 2021, on Regional Road 261-5, in Sines. Transcription from the document’s “summary description”: “Driving the vehicle with the driver’s seat not fully upholstered in the seat area due to wear and tear”.
The second image shows what appears to be the reason for the fine: a simple “hole in the seat” of the car, smaller than a pen. This would have resulted in a fine of between “7.48 euros and 37.41 euros”, says the aforementioned document.
In November 2021, Marco Matos, the protagonist of the story, explained to Polígrafo that he was driving a goods transport van belonging to the company he works for, when he was stopped by the GNR at the entrance to Sines, as part of an inspection operation.
After being asked for the vehicle’s documents and inspecting the cargo it was carrying, the GNR soldiers noticed that the seat was broken and informed him that he would be fined. However, they pointed out that the fine would be directed at the company that owns the van, not the driver himself.
When questioned by Polígrafo on the date of the first verification of the facts, an official GNR source confirmed the authenticity of the administrative offense notice shown in the image, which was “drawn up as a result of a road inspection, and the infraction is foreseen and punishable under the terms of Article 23 of the Regulations of the Highway Code (RCE), in the amount of 7.48 to 37.41 euros”.
Lawyer Pedro Barosa, a partner at Abreu Advogados and a specialist in criminal and administrative law, explained to Polígrafo that “under the terms of Article 23(1) of the Highway Code Regulations, ‘the driver’s seat must be placed in such a way as to allow the driver to have good visibility and to operate all the controls with ease and without prejudice to the continuous monitoring of the road’.” What’s more, “the driver’s seat shall be upholstered and longitudinally adjustable; in heavy passenger vehicles this seat shall also be vertically adjustable.” This therefore confirms the GNR’s interpretation.
He added that “Article 48(3) of the aforementioned Regulation establishes that ‘contraventions of the provisions of this Regulation which do not correspond to a special penalty’, as is the case here, ‘shall be punishable by a fine of 1,500$ to 7,500$’ (i.e. from €7.48 to €37.41)”, as quoted by the military force.
Where do the Portuguese spend more time in traffic?
Road Traffic Regulations in Portugal