Lorry drivers, who break the rest rules, overload their vehicles or drink and drive, are under double scrutiny this month as the Director of Traffic in Murcia announces a month long campaign of inspections which coincides with a similar and ongoing international campaign organized in 25 different European countries.
In Murcia a thousand lorries and vans will be inspected as the Director of Traffic instructs 45 Town Halls to collaborate with the initiative.
The Guardia Civil will mount controls on the main routes through the region and to inspect authorizations and vehicle documents, technical and security elements and to monitor lorries and vans for overloading. Driving licences, the use of seatbelts, driving and rest periods, speed and alcohol detection tests will also form part of the regional inspections.
According to sources at the Government Delegation: “Driving a van is not the same as driving a car, given that the dynamic is different, especially if the vehicle is overloaded.”
A similar campaign in Murcia in March 2010 involved 651 vehicles and of those 180, some 27.65%, were prosecuted.
The international campaign, Operation Truck, involves the Organization of International Traffic Police which estimates that lorry drivers who fail to take sufficient rest periods count for 44% of road traffic accidents. During the last year there have been 732 prosecutions in Spain for similar offences.
The permitted driving period is nine hours a day, except twice a week when a driver may drive for 10 hours. The limit for driving without stopping is four and a half hours. After this period it is obligatory to rest for at least 45 minutes or stop twice, first for 15 minutes and then for 30 minutes.
Drivers who do not respect these rest periods face heavy fines.
