The Knesset's Economics Committee approved on Monday new regulations to supervise heavy vehicles, including the use of a digital tachograph, in an important step to increase the road safety of trucks and buses and to reduce the involvement of heavy vehicles in road accidents.
The new regulations, submitted by Transportation Minister Miri Regev, aimed to create a uniform system of supervision and control of professional drivers, by implementing the use of a digital tachograph - replacing the former analogic one - and regulating the supervision and control of heavy vehicles.
The inspection system is designed to ensure that drivers and their employers adhere to the requirements of the law with regard to working hours and rest.
The digital tachograph, said Regev, will give every driver the opportunity to enjoy full transparency of the travel data he has performed and will provide a proper tool monitor to compare the driving time allowed by law and the amount of driving hours actually performed.
The tachograph will then enable better enforcement of working hours and rest, which is part of Regev's effort to strengthen the status of drivers and preserve their rights.
The system includes software for adjusting the calculation of travel and rest hours, in accordance with Israeli law, and provides a solution for online reporting for laboratories for repairing and calibrating digital tachograph devices.
The new regulations, based on the European standard, will make it possible to streamline the process of supervising professional drivers, licensing institutes and companies that own the vehicle fleet, professional driver training colleges, supervisory bodies, and laboratories for repairing and calibrating tachograph devices.
Regev said that this is one of the most significant reforms in the automotive industry, which will reduce the involvement of heavy vehicles in road accidents and increase the safety of all road users.
"The new regulations and the use of the digital tachograph will improve and streamline enforcement and information management processes and increase transparency," she added.