Inspection of lorries on Czech roads

A special police unit called “Kamion” (Czech for lorry) specialises in the inspection of lorries in the Czech Republic.  Its members focus in particular on the D1 motorway, as well as other important trunk roads and roads of lower classes.

During the last year, officers from the team made a total of 1,225 roadside inspections of lorries and vans, and in 285 cases during these checks, they found some kind of fault. Drivers or operators of vehicles then paid a total of 72 fines coming to almost 1.6 million Czech crowns for violations of the provisions of the road traffic act.

Due to the occurrence of serious road traffic accidents, police in the Vysočina region last year focused on a thorough review of compliance by drivers of lorries transporting wooden logs. Their attention focused not only on the standard document inspection but also on the technical condition of the vehicles, as well as whether the transported cargo was sufficiently secured and stored. Furthermore, the inspections focused on whether the vehicle was properly cleaned and maintained, so as not to pollute or damage the road.

Police inspected these lorries using a low-speed motion weighing system and, after inspecting 869 vehicles, 413 violations were found. In total, the fines imposed exceeded 2,311,000 Czech crowns.

The most common offences were overloaded vehicles or improperly secured cargo. There were even some cases where the driver refused the requested weight check. However, this obligation is imposed by law and if the request is disobeyed, the police are entitled to impose a fine of up to CZK 30,000, the vehicle is then parked in a convenient place and the driver is prevented from continuing the journey until the weighing procedure is completed.