Driving and rest time
Plan a legal driving day under 561/2006
Breaks, daily/weekly limits and daily rest
Passenger transport with a vehicle for more than 9 persons including the driver is covered by the EU driving and rest time rules — the same set of rules as lorries. The guide takes you through a long driving day from planning before departure to rest in the evening, with the binding limits from Regulation (EC) 561/2006 and the pitfalls that cost fines.
Read the remaining time from yesterday and this week
Read from the tachograph how much driving time you have left today and in the current week, and how many extended driving days and reduced rest periods you have already used. Planning starts with what you have already used — not with a blank slate.
Weekly driving timemax. 56 tOver 2 weeksmax. 90 tDecide: 9-hour or 10-hour day
The daily driving time is 9 hours, but may be extended to 10 hours no more than 2 times a week. Decide in advance whether today is a normal day or one of the two permitted extensions — and keep track of how many you have used.
Daily driving time9 tExtended10 h (max. 2×/week)Schedule the breaks after every 4.5 h
After no more than 4.5 hours of uninterrupted driving, you must take a break of at least 45 minutes. Find specific break opportunities (terminal, lay-by, terminus) in the route plan before the limit is reached — not afterwards. A 9-hour day typically contains two driving blocks of 4.5 h separated by one break.
Uninterrupted before a breakmax. 4.5 tOnly split the break 15 + 30 — in that order
The 45 minutes can be split into 15 minutes followed by 30 minutes, but only in that order. 30 + 15 is illegal, and two lots of 20 minutes do not meet the requirement either. If in doubt, take the 45 minutes in one go.
Split break15 + 30 min15 then 30 is legal — 30 then 15 is not. The order is a classic trap.
Monitor the counter and call the dispatcher in good time
Keep an eye on the driving time counter on the display as you go. If delays are pushing you towards the 9-hour limit, contact the dispatcher in good time rather than driving on and exceeding it. The limit does not give way to a delayed timetable.
Finish with at least 11 hours of daily rest
After the driving day, at least 11 hours of continuous daily rest are required. It can be reduced to 9 hours no more than 3 times between two weekly rests — but count the reductions so that you do not use more than permitted.
Daily rest11 h (min. 9 h, max. 3×)Plan the weekly rest
The normal weekly rest is at least 45 hours. It can be reduced to 24 hours, but the difference up to 45 hours must be compensated en bloc before the end of the third week following. Plan the weekly rest so that you do not hit the limit in the middle of a working week.
Weekly rest45 h (reduced 24 h)Check whether the route is exempt — but do not count on it
Buses on regular services where the route does not exceed 50 km may be exempt from the regulation (national rules apply instead). The exemption does not automatically cover all urban bus services — verify the specific route's approval before you plan on that basis.
Route boundary≤ 50 km
Source
Based on Regulation (EC) 561/2006 (amended by (EU) 2020/1054), Færdselsstyrelsen's «Vejledning om reglerne» and the bus template «Process: planning a long driving day».