ROADSIDE AND CHECKS AT PREMISES

Article 5

Concerted checks 

Member States shall, at least six times per year, undertake concerted roadside checks on drivers and vehicles falling within the scope of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85. Such checks shall be undertaken at the same time by the enforcement authorities of two or more Member States, each operating in its own territory.

ROADSIDE CHECKS

The following points shall, in general, be covered by roadside checks:

(1) daily and weekly driving times, breaks and daily and weekly rest periods; also the preceding days' record sheets which have to be carried on board the vehicle in accordance with Article 15(7) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 and/or the data stored for the same period on the driver card and/or in the memory of the recording equipment in accordance with Annex ΙΙ to this Directive and/or on printouts; 

(2) for the period referred to in Article 15(7) of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, any cases where the vehicle's authorised speed is exceeded, to be defined as being any periods of more than one minute during which the vehicle's speed exceeds 90 km/h for category N3 vehicles or 105 km/h for category M3 vehicles (categories N3 and M3 being defined in Annex II, Part A to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (1);

(3) where appropriate, momentary speeds attained by the vehicle as recorded by the recording equipment in no more than the previous 24 hours' use of the vehicle; 

(4) the correct functioning of the recording equipment (determination of possible misuse of the equipment and/or the driver card and/or record sheets) or, where appropriate, presence of the documents referred to in Article 14 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85.

Article 6

Checks at the premises of undertakings 

1. Checks at premises shall be planned in the light of past experience in relation to the various types of transport and undertakings. They shall also be carried out if serious infringements of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 or (EEC) No 3821/85 have been detected at the roadside.

PART B

CHECKS AT THE PREMISES OF UNDERTAKINGS

The following points shall be checked at the premises of undertakings, in addition to those set out in Part A:

(1) weekly rest periods and driving times between these rest periods; 

(2) observance of the two-weekly limitation of driving times;

(3) record sheets, vehicle unit and driver card data and printouts.

Member States may, if appropriate, check on the joint liability of other instigators or accessories in the transport chain, such as shippers, freight forwarders or contractors, if an infringement is detected, including verification that contracts for the provision of transport permit compliance with Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85.

Risk rating system

1. Member States shall introduce a risk rating system for undertakings based on the relative number and severity of any infringements of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 or (EEC) No 3821/85 that an individual undertaking has committed. The Commission shall support dialogue between Member States to encourage consistency between these risk rating systems.

2. Undertakings with a high risk rating shall be checked more closely and more often. The criteria and detailed rules for implementing such a system shall be discussed in the Committee referred to in Article 12, with a view to establishing a system for the exchange of information on best practices.

3. An initial list of infringements of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85 is set out in Annex III. With a view to giving guidelines on the weighting of infringements of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85, the Commission may, as appropriate, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2), adapt Annex III with a view to establishing guidelines on a common range of infringements, divided into categories according to their gravity. The category for the most serious infringements should include those where failure to comply with the relevant provisions of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and (EEC) No 3821/85 create a serious risk of death or serious personal injury. 

ANNEX III

Infringements

In accordance with Article 9(3), for the purposes of this Directive, the following non-exhaustive list gives guidance on what is to be regarded as an infringement:

(1) exceeding the maximum daily, weekly or fortnightly driving times;

(2) disregarding the minimum daily or weekly rest period;

(3) disregarding the minimum break;

(4) failure to fit a tachograph in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 April 2007.