Croatia: Digital Tachograph to be introduced Within Four Years

In Croatia, as in all other countries, co-signers of the European Agreement Concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport (AETR), all vehicles for which tachographs are mandatory will have to be fitted with digital tachographs within the next four years.  This means that analogue tachographs will have to be replaced by digital ones, as it was stated today at the Croatian Economic Chamber during a professional seminar organized for transport companies.

EU Member States have to be ready by 5 May to start handing out chip cards, and on 5 August they have to introduce digital instead of analogue tachographs.
 
A digital tachograph is an electronic system for recording driving and rest times for drivers and co-drivers of commercial vehicles. Vehicle speed, distance traveled and other system-related parameters are also logged. Data is stored in a memory (mass memory) inside the unit and on driver-specific smart cards (driver cards).

The vehicle owners usually want to cut back costs when they send their vehicle on the road; they expect the trip to be profitable and to transport the cargo as quickly as possible. According to regulations drivers are not allowed to drive for more than 4.5 consecutive hours per day. Until now drivers had the possibility to give false data, but a chip card will prevent such things in the future.

The Assistant Minister of Interior Affairs Ivica Franić stated that the digital tachograph will have to be put into vehicles which have a carrying capacity over 3.5 tones and more than 8 seats.
 
He pointed out that it was the Government's goal to decrease the number of tragic traffic accidents within the upcoming four years. For that, he said, it would be necessary to increase speed control and tests for alcohol and drugs, intensify the protection of children and elderly persons in traffic, as well as eliminate dangerous spots along the roads.

In the end Franić said that Croatia could be satisfied with last year’s figures, since it showed the lowest number of tragic traffic accidents in the last 40 years.

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