Magnet-resistant tachographs must now be fitted to all newly registered vehicles that require a tachograph. The move is the latest phase of the European Commission programme to improve the recording and enforcement of driving time and rest periods.
Operators can continue to use existing digital or analogue equipment on vehicles registered before 1st October 2012. For those registered afterwards, the new-generation tachographs are designed to be tamper-proof against cases of fraud that use simple magnets.
Future changes will also be seen with proposals to introduce a ‘smart’ tachograph by 2017-2018 and also enabling enforcement agencies to access information without stopping the vehicle.