{"id":578031,"date":"2025-11-18T09:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T09:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/578031\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T09:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T09:53:12","slug":"routine-check-in-germany-leads-to-e30000-fine-for-haulier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/578031\/","title":{"rendered":"Routine check in Germany leads to \u20ac30,000 fine for haulier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>German motorway police and road transport inspectors uncovered a highly sophisticated manipulation setup in an almost new truck during a routine control. A <strong>concealed switch <\/strong>was used<strong> to fake \u201crest time\u201d in the tachograph<\/strong> while the driver continued driving. Police warn that such tampering poses serious risks to road safety and vehicle assistance systems.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"689\" data-end=\"1007\">German motorway police describe the case as <strong>one of the most serious tachograph-related violations<\/strong> seen this year. Last Wednesday, traffic officers, together with inspectors from Germany\u2019s Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility (BALM), stopped a 34-year-old Turkish truck driver during a routine roadside inspection.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1009\" data-end=\"1358\">During the initial check, officers found<strong> irregularities in the driver\u2019s recorded driving and rest times<\/strong>. According to police, power-consumption measurements indicated that \u201cthe control unit was no longer in the original condition intended by the manufacturer.\u201d Notably, the truck had been <strong>registered for the first time less than two weeks earlier<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Hidden switch enabling manual interference<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1408\" data-end=\"1556\">After the control unit was dismantled, a specialised workshop confirmed the manipulation. A detailed search of the cab revealed the components used:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"1560\" data-end=\"1587\">a concealed toggle <strong>switch<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1590\" data-end=\"1617\">a matching <strong>wiring harness<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1620\" data-end=\"1671\">connected directly to the tachograph\/control unit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1673\" data-end=\"1907\">A later test drive demonstrated how the system worked: <strong>when the switch was activated, the driver could force the tachograph to record \u201crest time\u201d while the vehicle was still moving. As a result, the device displayed a speed of 0 km\/h.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1909\" data-end=\"2081\">This allowed the driver to continue driving without the tachograph recording any movement , a deliberate attempt to circumvent mandatory driving- and rest-time regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Police: \u201cChronic fatigue and traffic hazards are deliberately created\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2159\" data-end=\"2262\">According to the police report, the manipulation goes far beyond a simple breach of social regulations:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"2264\" data-end=\"2392\">\u201cChronic fatigue of the driver and the resulting danger to traffic are knowingly and deliberately created,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"2394\" data-end=\"2476\">Even more concerning, the intervention disables key assistance systems, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"2480\" data-end=\"2505\">adaptive cruise control<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2508\" data-end=\"2513\">ABS<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2516\" data-end=\"2521\">ESP<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2524\" data-end=\"2556\">other safety-critical features<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2558\" data-end=\"2804\">Because the vehicle is incorrectly identified as stationary, these systems switch off \u2014 with potentially fatal consequences. Police describe the situation as \u201chighly dangerous\u201d and warn that serious accidents are effectively \u201cpre-programmed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Same company flagged earlier this year \u2013 now hit with \u20ac30,000 fine<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2878\" data-end=\"3057\">The driver and the Turkish haulage company responsible denied all allegations. However, police say the same company had already been flagged for an identical manipulation in July.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3059\" data-end=\"3212\">After consultation with BALM\u2019s fines department, a \u20ac30,000 penalty was imposed. The required security deposit was paid by the company in two instalments.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3214\" data-end=\"3370\">The truck was prohibited from continuing its journey until all manipulated components were removed and repaired. All tampered parts were seized as evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"German motorway police and road transport inspectors uncovered a highly sophisticated manipulation setup in an almost new truck&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":{"0":"post-578031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115570095125072012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}