We boarded our tour bus at 730am to go to Germany. This bus was a bit roomier than the ones we had done our little tours on, which was good. Our tour guide's name is Vince and our driver is Niko. Niko needs to stop for 45 minutes every 4 1/2 hours due to European laws, so about every 2 hours or so we stop for a half hour drink/restroom break. We learned that he cannot cheat on the required amount of down time, as he has a card he must put in a slot in the bus every time he starts it and must remove it when he stops. A police officer can stop him at any time and ask for his card. All the police vehicles are equipped with a card reader which will print out a report of the last week of activity. If he is under rested by even a minute, he can be fined up to €1, 200. That's one strict law, but a great way to decrease the number of people falling asleep at the wheel.
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