6% Of Truck Drivers
In Rest Times Violation
PHOTO: POLICE.PUBLIC.LU15 MAR - About 6 out of 100 truck drivers on the roads of Europe are either in rest time violation, or their tachograph is manipulated or not properly managed.
This is among the findings of ROADPOL's latest Truck&Bus Operation, a summary of which was made available by ROADPOL's Operational Working Group (OPG) today. The operation focuses on the control of commercial goods and passenger transport and was the first one of a total of four planned for 2022.
Activities
19 countries took part in the operation. According to their feedback, 210.365 trucks and 121.666 buses were checked. During this control week 71.249 violations were found (trucks: 63.567, buses: 7.682). 221 times the onward journey had to be prohibited until the proper condition of the vehicles or load had been restored. The complaint rate was 30,22% for freight transport and 6,31% for buses. For freight traffic, this means that a violation was found in almost 1 in 3 trucks checked. “Fortunately, that number is lower for buses. This shows that freight traffic represents a major risk to road safety and that monitoring is still necessary. European police officers have a very high standard of training in heavy traffic controls, which is reflected in the high complaint rate”, says ROADPOL OPG Secretary Henk Jansen of Dutch National Police.
Henk JansenDevices
Most of the offences were found in the areas of speed, technical offences, seat belts and other safety restraints and vehicle documents law for buses and in the areas of speed, technical offences, legislation on driving and rest times and tachograph settings: 7.581 drivers (trucks 7.119, buses 462) offended against 
Europe-wide valid social regulations, meaning they drove their vehicle for longer than legally allowed without complying the mandatory breaks. 5.520 times the prescribed tachographs were not properly managed. Manipulations of digital tachographs were detected in 537 cases. “Fumbling with the settings of the tachograph or even manipulating those takes on larger forms every year. The reason for this type of fraud might be the sustained competitive pressure in this still-growing industry. The financial benefits for transporters may be large, but the risks for road safety are greater. Especially due to driver fatigue, collisions can occur with serious consequences, not only for the driver of the truck or bus himself, but also for other road users”, Jansen warns.
Offences
258 drivers were also found taking part in road traffic under the influence of alcohol, as well as 92 drivers under the influence of drugs. In 2.583 cases (2.444 trucks, 139 buses) serious technical defects were found. 1.197 trucks (< 12,5 tons), 1.470 trucks (> 12,5 tons) and 91 buses were found with overweight. Also was the load securing insufficient on761 trucks. At the controlled buses most violations were noted by the use of seat belt (917), excessive speed (1.211) and technical defects (139). 462 bus drivers also had exceeded the legally permitted driving times
“The results of the control week show that inspections in the area of heavy goods traffic and passenger transport are still an important approach to improve traffic safety”, Jansen concludes. The next ROADPOL Truck & Bus Operation is scheduled to take place from 13th to 19th June 2022.
