Drivers' hours
A new European regulation (561/2006) has introduced changes to the scope and rules of EU drivers' hours (tachograph) rules. These replace Council regulation 3820.85 and were enforced from 11 April 2007.
The EU wanted to clarify and simplify drivers' hours rules in order to make application, interpretation and enforcement of the rules easier and more uniform across member states. They also felt that the list of exemptions needed to be updated to reflect the developments in the road transport sector as rules were still being followed from 1985.
The changes introduced fall into three main areas:
- Exemptions and derogations
- Drivers' hours rules
- Definitions, responsibilities and liabilities
- Rules on Drivers' Hours and Tachographs
- Operator tools
