The CESMAD Slovakia road haulage association says it is not planning strikes in protest at the proposed ban on driving trucks on Fridays between 16:00 and 20:00. The Interior Ministry plans to introduce the ban in an amendment to the Traffic Code, the SITA newswire wrote. CESMAD Secretary General Pavol Reich said that, instead, on one Friday evening they would try to stay off the roads to demonstrate to ministerial bureaucrats what they want. CESMAD President Peter Halabrin said that they do not want any strikes or similar actions but want to show in practice that the law will cause absolute chaos on the roads for all motorists. According to him, roads will remain blocked because drivers will not have anywhere where to park their trucks.
CESMAD highlights the fact that there is a shortage of truck parking across the Slovak road network. Halabrin said that there is space for a mere forty trucks to park on the whole R1 dual carriageway between Trnava and Zvolen. According to 2005 statistics, 863 trucks would normally be using the road between Trnava and Nitra at the time when the ban would be applied. CESMAD insists that the prepared measure is at odds with the government’s aim of making roads passable, since it will instead block them. CESMAD plans its Friday warning before parliament starts discussing the amendment. The Cabinet approved the draft Traffic Code revision midweek and it should be on the agenda of the next parliamentary session. CESMAD says the Friday ban is unprecedented in Europe. SITA
