New driving law changes to impact thousands of drivers this week

Thousands of motorists could be impacted by new driving rules introduced on UK roads this week. According to the DVSA, "in-scope vehicles" must be fitted with full or transitional smart tachograph 2 software. This tends to refer to Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) over 3.5 tonnes in weight, with thousands of road users affected.

The new rule was introduced on Tuesday, 19 August, and is the latest in a series of updates around tachographs in vehicles. The tachograph 2 is the latest version of a digital device that records driver activity while behind the wheel. Notes are taken on everything from driving time to how far and fast road users are travelling.

The DVSA said: "On or after 19 August 2025, a 'full' smart tachograph 2 or 'transitional' smart tachograph 2 must be retrofitted into in-scope vehicles currently fitted with a smart tachograph 1 that are undertaking international journeys. If the vehicle is operating only within the UK, then the vehicle can still use the smart tachograph 1 that has originally been fitted."

According to data from the Road Haulage Association (RHA), more than 625,000 HGVs are registered in Great Britain. As recently as 2023, smart tachograph 1 tools could still be fitted to vehicles, but these have slowly been phased out.

However, changes to tachograph rules don't end here. Further updates are set to take effect next summer.

The DVSA explained the rest of the changes in a full statement, revealing that more tweaks were coming from July 2026.

The DVSA said: "On or after 1 July 2026, a 'full' smart tachograph 2 or 'transitional' smart tachograph 2 must be fitted into newly registered goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes, undertaking international journeys for hire and reward.

"If the vehicle is undertaking an international journey for the driver or the company's own account and driving does not constitute the main activity of the driver, there is no requirement to fit a tachograph.

"In addition, if the vehicle weighs over 2.5 tonnes and less than 3.5 tonnes and is operating only within the UK, then there continues to be no requirement to fit a tachograph into the vehicle."