The inspection took place on 22 July 2026 in the Tennengau region of Austria, where police stopped a German-registered lorry and trailer.
The vehicle was being driven by a 73-year-old Italian national. An examination of the digital records showed that he had been using a driver card belonging to his son.
As a result, the tachograph data did not accurately identify the person who had been driving or provide a reliable record of his working and rest periods.
Police record 59 separate breaches
Officers identified 59 breaches of social regulations, covering driving time, mandatory breaks and rest requirements.
The driver admitted the offences and was reported to both the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office and the administrative authorities in the Hallein district.
The number of infringements suggests repeated attempts to circumvent the rules rather than an isolated mistake. Using another person’s card makes it difficult to establish how long a driver has actually spent behind the wheel and whether the required rest periods have been observed.
Fatigue remains a major safety concern
Driving-time and rest rules are intended to reduce the risk of fatigue, which can impair concentration, reaction speed and judgement.
Figures published by the European Transport Workers’ Federation indicate that more than 60% of lorry drivers regularly drive while tired. Among bus drivers, the proportion rises to 66%.
The federation also found that one in three lorry drivers and one in four bus drivers had fallen asleep at the wheel.
It attributes the problem to long working hours, irregular schedules, insufficient breaks, poor access to suitable rest facilities and operational pressure within transport supply chains.
False records cannot replace proper rest
Livia Spera, general secretary of the European Transport Workers’ Federation, has described chronic fatigue among professional drivers as a safety crisis. The federation links the issue to weak enforcement, commercial pressure and long subcontracting chains.
Using another person’s driver card may conceal an infringement in the records, but it does not reduce the physical effects of insufficient rest.
The case also highlights a fundamental limitation of digital tachograph controls. The system can only provide an accurate account of a driver’s activity when the card inserted belongs to the person actually driving the vehicle.
Where another person’s card is used, the issue extends beyond inaccurate record-keeping. It undermines the entire mechanism designed to verify compliance with driving-time, break and rest requirements.
