As of February 1, new amendments prepared by the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA) concerning mandatory vehicle technical inspections have entered into force. While the core content of the document (Order No. 2B-290 of the Director of the State Road Transport Inspectorate under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, dated July 29, 2008, “On the Approval of Requirements for Motor Vehicles and Their Trailers”) remains unchanged, several updated points are relevant to nearly all car and motorcycle owners.
The most important update concerns a clearer definition of how vehicle registration plates must be attached. As the Road Police have introduced a much larger number of automatic traffic violation recording devices — such as speed cameras, “tripods,” and sectoral speed measurement systems — the number of cases where it is difficult to determine who is responsible for an offense has increased. One of the reasons for this is the use of screws positioned directly on registration plate characters, which in some cases distort the symbols or numbers and mislead electronic detection systems.
With the new LTSA directive taking effect, it is now clearly specified that within the character zones of registration plates (areas covering the dimensions of the letters and numbers of all plate types and formats — for example, as shown in Figure 1 with a red dotted line) there must be no fastening elements or any other damage/obstruction to the characters. Even if the screws are located in the character zone but do not distort the plate’s readability (see Fig. 2), from February 1 this will be classified as a minor defect. However, these plates must still be replaced with compliant ones within the next two years — by February 1, 2025. After that date, it will be classified as a major defect.
However, if fastening elements or other defects within the character zone make the plate difficult to read or distort its appearance (see Figs. 3–4), this will already be considered a major defect.
Another important change — the list of vehicles for which the tachograph (a device recording drivers’ working and rest periods, driving speed, etc.) must be installed and properly calibrated during the mandatory inspection — has been significantly expanded.
Until now, this requirement primarily applied to buses and trucks used for commercial passenger or cargo transport. However, from February 1, the tachograph will be checked and evaluated in most buses and trucks, regardless of their intended use. The following exceptions remain:
- City buses,
- Vehicles belonging to the army, police, border guard, and fire rescue services;
- Vehicles operated by humanitarian aid organizations;
- Trucks with a gross weight not exceeding 7.5 tonnes, when no tachograph is installed;
- Historic vehicles without tachographs;
- Special-purpose vehicles such as ambulances, mobile cranes, service vehicles, aerial platforms, fire engines, compressor trucks, roadside assistance vehicles, mobile drills, ladder trucks, and sports cars.
This amendment will primarily affect farmers, agricultural companies, and owners of special-purpose vehicles such as street cleaners, driver training vehicles, garbage trucks, sludge trucks, tow trucks, and other specialized equipment.
