Driving & Rest Time Fines
What does a driving & rest time violation cost?
Driving & rest time violations cost between 500 – 4000 kr. per violation (5 – 40%) for the driver and twice that for the company.
When the Police check for violations during a roadside inspection, they look at 28 days. The violations they find in the period are added together and rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 500.
When the Danish Road Traffic Authority checks for driving & rest time violations, they look at an entire month, i.e., from the 1st to the last day of a given month.
Here, the fines are also added together and rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 500.
Fine for violation of driving & rest time rules in articles 6, 8 and 9:
- The driver's daily and weekly driving time, article 6
- Driver's daily and weekly rest/break, Article 8
- Ferry rule + working time outside the vehicle, Article 9
As a starting point, fines for Articles 6, 8, and 9 are calculated based on the following:
• For the driver, the fine is DKK 100 for each percentage the rules are exceeded.
• For the company, the fine is set at double
– DKK 200 for each percentage the rules are exceeded.
In Denmark, we have a de minimis threshold of 5 %.
This means that violations between 0.1 – 5% do not result in a fine.
Fines start at DKK 500 and are rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 500. That is, if the driver commits a violation of 8%, this will result in a fine of DKK 800, which will be rounded up to DKK 1000 if there are no other violations by the driver. If there are multiple violations, the rounding up occurs only after all fines have been added together.
The company employing the driver will receive a fine of double that amount – DKK 2000.
Fines for violation of Article 7 (the break rule)
Article 7 of the driving and rest time rules concerns the length of the daily break and its division.
- For the driver, a minimum fine of DKK 25 per percentage of exceedance has been established.
- For the company, a fine of DKK 50 per percentage of exceedance has been established.
For the company, the minimum fine is DKK 250, if combined with other fines – alternatively rounded up to DKK 1000.
For the company, the same applies to missing data from a vehicle. DKK 6000 per day.
Convicted from driving
The driver of a vehicle shall be conditionally convicted from driving if Articles 6, 8 or 9 have been infringed by more than 40%.
For infringement (regardless of the size) of Article 7, there is no conviction from driving.
The driver of a vehicle is unconditionally convicted from driving if there are several circumstances in which the driving and rest periods have been breached by more than 40% and the conditions are more than one week.
If 6 violations of more than 5% are detected within a period of 3 years, the driver's license will be conditionally revoked.
The violations may have been committed in the same week or over several weeks.
For example, if a driver has 12 violations within a period of 3 years (2x6 violations), the driver's license will be revoked unconditionally.
The 6 violations, each individually, result in a conditional revocation of the driver's license.
Calculate fine amount
In the graph, you can see what the fine will be if you drive more than the permitted 4 hours and 30 minutes before a break.
In Denmark, we have a de minimis threshold of 5%. This means that no fine is given for driving more than 4 hours and 43 minutes,
as this results in a violation of 4.8%.
However, be aware that the Danish Transport Authority and the Police can still issue fines for minor violations if it appears to be a pattern (typically more than 5 times in a month)
In the graph below, you can see how large a fine it will be to drive more than the permitted 9 hours in a day.
This assumes that the two days with 10 hours of driving ARE used up.
As you can see, driving for 9 hours and 56 minutes will result in a violation of 10.8% and a fine of DKK 1500 (when rounded up).
Due to the 5% de minimis threshold in Denmark, you can drive for 9 hours and 26 minutes and get a violation of 4.8% without receiving a fine during inspection. However, both the Police and the Danish Transport Authority can issue fines below the de minimis threshold in case of continuous action, such as more than 5 violations right at or below the de minimis threshold.
It is permitted to drive up to 56 hours per week (max 90 hours in total over two consecutive weeks). The graph shows, among other things, that it will cost the driver a fine of DKK 1500 if 61 hours and 40 minutes are driven in a week, which is a violation of 10%.
A regular weekly rest is 45 hours. A reduced weekly rest is a minimum of 24 hours. Provided that the reduced rest has been used, the fine amount for a non-observed regular weekly rest can be seen below. For example, it costs a fine of DKK 2000 if you only take 38 hours instead of 45 hours, which is a violation of 15%.
