19-06-06 France has adopted a set of national rules to deal with the replacement of analogue tachographs by digital ones, by making distinctions between dates at which vehicles were registered. This means that France will take into consideration the age of the vehicle and the technical difficulties to be encountered as well as the financial cost associated with such activity.

Stop Press! The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have allocated the postcode SA99 1AZ so that valid applications for Replacement Driver cards can be streamlined through their postal system and processed within 5 days as required by EU regulation 3821/85.

21 April 2006

Minister for Transport Stephen Ladyman today welcomed the news that the date for the mandatory fitting and use digital tachographs has been established. This means that all large commercial vehicles that first enter service from 1st May 2006 will have to fit and use the new technology.

Digital tachographs will record drivers' activities electronically and store them in digital memory rather than on paper. These records are used to enforce European drivers' hours rules. The drivers' hours rules limit the length of time for which many commercial drivers can drive and require them to observe minimum rest and break periods.

Stephen Ladyman said: