The incident took place in St. Florian am Inn, Schärding district. During a roadside check, the police discovered that the 45-year-old Bosnian driver was on a road banned for lorries, driving at 95 km/h, and the vehicle he was operating was in a critical technical condition, according to the Austrian news service orf.at.
Police found the front brakes were heavily worn and the wheel hub bolts completely corroded. The vehicle was declared unroadworthy and immediately taken off the road.
Severe breaches of driving time rules
Police were even more concerned about the manner of the transport execution. The driver had exceeded the allowed driving time in an extreme way – In one case, he drove for almost 37 hours without a break, while his daily rest periods amounted to just four hours. Such severe violations of working time rules posed a direct threat to road safety.
“I wanted to help the company”
When questioned, the 45-year-old said he acted because of his company’s financial difficulties. He claimed that the company had suffered significant losses last year, and he wanted to ‘help it save money’ by continuing to drive an unserviceable vehicle and skipping necessary breaks.
Police rejected his explanation, stating it did not justify the offences. The driver was reported to the prosecutor’s office and required to pay several thousand euros in financial security on the spot.
For related information on transport safety and regulations, see our report on the EU’s truck parking deficit and the growing driver shortage issues in Europe.
