Thousands of spot checks on haulage trucks and other heavy vehicles in the Greater Athens region have found one in five drivers in violation of some rule or safety regulation, authorities said Monday.
A police statement said 5,608 violations were recorded during 26,735 inspections in the first quarter of the year on national highways and other key roads used by heavy vehicles in the Greater Athens region and other parts of Attica.
The vast majority of the violations – 5,247 – concerned rules on drivers’ working hours and rest schedules, while 137 were for speeding and 101 for poor loading. In 64 cases, the trucks were overloaded, 37 had damaged tires and 7 had tampered speed recorders.
In three cases, the infringements merited the drivers’ arrest, police said, adding that similar spot checks will continue.