A lorry driver and haulier has been fined approximately €2,220 for tachograph manipulation after officers discovered a magnet hidden in an unusual place within the cab.
The tachograph manipulation was discovered during checks in Wieszowa in Poland’s Upper Silesia region last week.
According to the official police statement on the case, the data in the documents the driver presented to the road transport inspectors was not consistent with the readings from the tachograph. This raised the suspicions of the inspectors, which were only further fuelled by the drivers uncooperative behaviour.
Eventually, the inspectors worked out that the driver must have used a tachograph manipulation device. At this point, the lorry driver admitted to using such a device, but stated he had thrown it away.
Following this admission, the inspectors called the police, as of course, tachograph manipulation is a crime. On arrival, the police then went about inspecting the truck on order to find the magnet that had been used.
Incredibly, the magnet was found in hidden in the hose handle of the truck’s fire extinguisher. The driver was then asked by the police to take the fire extinguisher (without saying they had found the magnet). The trucker tried to pocket the magnet on the sly while taking the fire extinguisher, but was spotted by the officers – confirming again that the magnet they had found was the tachograph manipulation device.
The driver was fined 10,000zł for breaking drivers' hour rules, and will also face criminal charges for tachograph manipulation.
Photo credit: katowice.witd.gov.pl
