Tachographs ‘to be compulsory’

HIRE cars, school buses, licensed tourist transport, lorries and government vehicles may all have to be fitted with tachographs, possibly within a year, in proposals now under discussion.

TRNC drivers will also soon be able to pay their road tax online, as part of moves unveiled by the new government. Sources at the Transport and Public Works Ministry revealed this week that the planned compulsory tachograph requirement, already mandatory in Turkey, had been included in the four-party coalition’s programme.

Full details of the proposals were not yet officially available yesterday as meetings continued.

Officials will begin work with EU experts this year on introducing the devices — which record speed, distance and driving hours — and the provision is expected to become law in 2019.

New minister Tolga Atakan described the traffic problems he was tasked to solve as “gangrenous”, as he met with Traffic Police director Hüseyin Kadir Çete and Highways Department head Ahmet Aydın on Tuesday.

Road safety campaigner Dr Mehmet Avcı gave a cautious welcome to the plan, but warned that “education and vehicle standards must take first priority”.

Retired Traffic Police director Özdemir Uzuner hailed the devices as “very useful” and said he had called for compulsory installation as long ago as 1985 when he was in office.

Former British Residents Society head and road safety activist David Brown was more scathing, however, saying: “This will do nothing as regards everyday drivers who are causing the majority of accidents. The money would be better spent on badly needed education and standards or a requirement for the installation of dash cams in all vehicles.”

Tachographs are currently required on heavy goods vehicles across Europe and the UK and were initially introduced to limit driver hours, although they also provide accident information for police. However, hacks and electronic devices to manipulate or disable digital tachographs can be found with ease online.