São Paulo state sees rise in traffic violations and fines in first half of 2026

In Campinas, a city in São Paulo state, authorities recorded 196,200 instances of motorcycles riding with covered license plates between January and June 2026, averaging about 1,100 daily infractions. The violations, each penalised with a R$293.47 fine and seven driver's‑license points, fell 39% from the same period in 2025, a reduction attributed to remote monitoring that identified 14,800 risky behaviours and integrated blitzes that caught more than 4,500 offenses. Motorcyclists continue to account for most traffic fatalities in the city, representing ten of the fifteen deaths reported up to May 2026 (about 67%).

State‑wide, the São Paulo traffic agency (Detran‑SP) logged 526,121 traffic fines for the first half of 2026, of which only 16.54% have been paid. The two most common infractions involve documentation errors: failure to register a vehicle within 30 days after a transfer (477,989 cases) and operating an unlicensed vehicle (181,172 cases), together comprising over 43% of all fines. Other frequent violations include not wearing a seatbelt (83,607), using a handheld phone while driving (79,383) and running a red light (43,016). The data show a shift in driver‑behaviour patterns, with red‑light violations entering the top five while driving without a licence fell out.