A German driver has been accused of a serious violation of the driving and rest rules, the Danish police inform. The trucker got a fine that is shocking even by German standards. His troubles may not stop there because the case will go to court. He also faces a ban on driving in Denmark.
In the municipality of Greve in the west of Denmark, At the end of February, Danish police officers stopped a truck for inspection driven by a 27-year-old driver from Germany. The officers noticed a lot of energy drink cans in the vehicle cabin.
A preliminary check of the tachograph records showed that during the last 28 days, the driver continued to drive almost every day after the end of daily working hours. He took the driver card out of the recording equipment and continued driving without recording working time, the Danish police report in an official announcement.
After a thorough check of the readings, officers found that the man exceeded his working time in the analysed period by as much as 893%.
In six cases, the rest, which was to last 9 hours, lasted from 2 to 5 hours. Four times the driver drove between 16-22 hours without a break, although the regulations allow a maximum of 10 hours between daily rest periods. Additionally, no toll has been paid for the vehicle. A total of 28 charges were brought against the driver.
The total fine is over DKK 500,000 (about €66,900), distributed between the carrier and the driver. The police detained the truck as collateral for the fine.
The case against the driver will be decided at a hearing on 23 June 2020 in the Roskilde Court. The judge will decide if the man gets a driving ban in Denmark.
Breaking the law in such a blatant way is not only a threat to others, because it is easy to have an accident if the driver is extremely tired. It is also an easy way to lose the opportunity to work in the profession if the court decides to ban the trucker from driving in Denmark.
Photo: politi.dk