RoadPol, the coordination by European traffic police, has released data from the first Truck&Bus control campaign of 2024, targeting commercial vehicles and buses, which took place from February 19 to 25. During the operation, officers from European traffic police inspected 248,498 trucks and 130,519 buses across 29 countries, marking a significant increase compared to the previous year, when 121,933 trucks and 91,590 buses were checked. The violation rate was found to be 34% for trucks, up 41% from last year, and 6.9% for buses, nearly double the previous year's 3.5%.
The most frequent violations among commercial vehicles related to exceeding driving times, tampering with or improperly setting tachographs, speeding, and technical violations, including overloading and inadequate load securing. For buses, the main infractions were related to the use of seat belts and other restraint devices, speeding, exceeding driving times, and irregularities in vehicle documents.
RoadPol highlighted that despite strict social regulations valid throughout Europe, many drivers continue to violate driving time rules without taking mandatory breaks. Cases of intentional tampering with tachographs have been detected, a practice increasingly widespread that, according to Jana Peleskova, head of the RoadPol Operational Group and Chief Commissioner of the Police of the Czech Republic, is driven by competitive pressures in the transport sector. These illicit practices, in addition to providing economic benefits to transporters, significantly increase the risks to road safety.
"This underscores the significant risk that freight traffic poses to road safety, emphasizing the ongoing need for controls," stated Peleskova, adding that driver fatigue can lead to collisions with serious consequences, affecting not only the truck or bus driver but also other road users. The next RoadPol Truck&Bus operation is scheduled to take place from May 13 to 19, 2024.
