According to TISPOL, The European Traffic Police Network, manipulation of digital tachograph systems is now becoming so sophisticated that it takes technical experts to uncover it.  This is despite more stringent measures in European legislation to combat tachograph tampering, especially in the field of technology. The Dutch and Belgian traffic services have reported an increasing number of technologically refined systems to manipulate tachograph data. The fraudulent measures are enabling drivers to be on the road for more hours than legally permitted, extending their permitted drivers’ hours. This has obvious ramifications for safety of all road users as fatigue continues to be a significant contributor to accidents. Examples of manipulated tachographs in the past few weeks include a Lithuanian vehicle where a dummy – a second pulse generator – operable by remote control had been installed. During a seven-week period, manipulations were detected in four of the same company’s vehicles. Manipulating tachograph data is a serious offence regardless of the motive. It is good to see the more sophisticated technical manipulations being detected. No doubt these findings will influence the specification of the forthcoming next generation Smart Tachograph.