Dashboard rule change affecting 300,000 drivers to hit before New Year – check now to make sure you meet criteria

A NEW dashboard rule affecting 300,000 Brit drivers is set to come into force before the New Year.

The measures are intended to "bolster fair competition and hamper fraud" in one of the nation's most important segments of motoring.

A raft of regulatory changes are being brought in this month on Britain's roads in time for 2025.

These include tweaks to repayment rates on company cars and a ramping up of Net Zero requirements for manufacturers.

Also among the changes, though, is an important update for the UK's vital haulage fleets.

HGV drivers are the lifeblood of the economy, relentlessly transporting goods up and down the nation, as well as into Europe.

Since 2005, all commercial vehicles over 2.5 tonnes have been required to have a tachograph installed.

The tech, which actually dates back to the 1950s in its basic form, is used to monitor the vehicle's driving time, speed, distance and location.

And back in 2019, the EU introduced a requirement for all of these to be "smart tachographs", which make use of GPS and wireless data transmission.

The UK has since followed suit and is now upping the requirement to mandate an advanced version called the smart tachograph 2.

By next year, all new HGVs will have to have these gadgets installed.

The aim is to improve safety and efficiency while monitoring border crossings to crack down on fraud.

It will also be used in Europe to enforce drivers' working conditions which, among other provisions, forbid them from spending the rest windows behind the wheel and require them to be given adequate breaks at home.

The new rule will come into force on December 31.

It will eventually impact all of the UK's estimated 300,000 HGV drivers, with companies looking to recruit up to 100,000 more.

However, the tech will only be required to be switched on for international trips.

It comes after a further 400,000 drivers were warned over a huge parking change happening this week which could see them lose hundreds.