A 52-year-old trucker was prevented from continuing his journey last week after the German police found his lorry’s tyres had worn down to the point they were almost slick.
Besides the tyre problem, the lorry had countless other defects. Both the license plate number and the registration certificate of the vehicle were taken, and the lorry is to be transported from Germany by a tow vehicle.
The inspection took place on Thursday, February 18th. The truck, which belongs to a Western European company, was checked at BAB 61, near Koblenz.
The police officers were reportedly amazed when they approached the 20-year-old vehicle. Besides the other issues mentioned earlier, the stairs on the driver’s side were broken, which could have resulted in injury.
Moreover, there were splits on the tarpaulin, defective or broken lighting equipment, sharp-edged plastic parts on the tractor. On top of that, the load, around 10 tons of plastic material, was unsecured in the truck’s loading area.
In particular, however, it was the condition of the tyres that appalled inspectors of the traffic department. The tread depth of several tyres was insufficient or showed considerable damage.
The vehicle was taken to a garage for further examination, where the inspector not only confirmed the defects, but also other failures, especially in the vehicle’s braking system.
It also came to light that the 52-year-old driver, who was also the vehicle owner, used incorrect record charts in his tachograph and could only provide incomplete evidence of his driving and rest times.
Naturally, the police took both the license plate number and the registration certificate of the vehicle. Due to the large number of defects, the vehicle should not be repaired in Germany, but rather transported to its country of origin with a tow vehicle.
Corresponding fines have not yet been calculated, but the driver has already had to leave a security deposit on the spot.
Photo credits @ Verkehrsdirektion Koblenz