Hintech tacho talks
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• Plans to replace tachographs with an electronic device to monitor drivers hours are being discussed by EC civil servants today (23 April).
Electronic systems are seen as more resistant to tampering and easier for enforcement officials to read. But hauliers are being warned that they could cost twice as much as mechanical tachographs.
Germany and France have proposed competing designs for the tachograph replacement. Both provide data which can be down-loaded to hand-held police computers during roadside checks. The French device, which the Germans say would be twice the price of a tachograph, is an electronic black box, similar to the flight data recorder used on aircraft, The Germans are suggesting the cheaper option of adapting the existing tachograph with an electronic extension, making it simpler for data to be extracted, and British officials are backing the German proposal: "It's cheaper and can't be tampered with easily," says one.
However, a compromise, with both devices being recognised, is likely at this stage. The Commission would like to introduce the revised tachograph by 1995.