Slovenian police also regularly control the traffic of goods vehicles on the highways. One of such controls was conducted on 20 April 2009 at the rest area Lukovica, carried out by the Specialized unit for traffic control of the Uniformed Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate.

The basic working area of this unit is traffic control, especially the control of goods vehicles, buses, taxis, driving schools, delivery and also one-track vehicles. Most attention is given to the weight (axle weight, total mass) and technical road worthiness of vehicles as well as psychophysical condition of drivers; special areas also include the transport of dangerous substances and escort of ad hoc transport operations. Beside this unit, patrols of police stations for countervailing measures and other inspection services are controlling the motorway cross.

Head of the Traffic Police Sector Robert Sušanj

Head of the Traffic Police Sector Robert Sušanj said at today's control operation that the police is recording numerous violations of regulations from transport operators: from speeding to driving in an excessively fatigued or exhausted condition. Sušanj also explained that the foreign transit traffic in the Slovenian motorway cross is significantly increasing, especially in relation to Dolga vas towards Italy. "As police, we are very thoroughly monitoring these traffic flows and preparing numerous intensified controls, with which we primarily wish to influence foreign transport operators that Slovenian road traffic regulations must be respected," emphasized Sušanj. Those who do not respect the regulations will be removed from the road to ensure that they do not create unfair competition to other transport operators as a result of the violation of traffic regulations. According to Sušanj, the most frequent foreign violators of traffic regulations are transport operators from Eastern European countries, since they are often under pressure by their employers. They drive in fatigued condition and longer than permitted: "Such a driver behind a wheel of a 40-ton truck is a potential bomb," said Sušanj.

Head of the specialized unit for traffic control Mladen Lončar

According to the head of the specialized unit for traffic control Mladen Lončar, the unit is striving to be present on the Slovenian motorway cross at least four days a week. They are controlling primarily the international traffic flowing through the country. According to Lončar, they pay particular attention to this category with respect to the vignette system, since in many cases they have established that vehicles do not have a vignette or it is past due. Lončar said that the among the most frequent violations are the duration of driving, since two or three out of five halted vehicles usually violate this regulation. Lončar also explained that the unit is otherwise also monitoring technical road worthiness and vehicle load, rest periods and the psychophysical condition of drivers and also the discovery of possible stolen vehicles.

Whilst at work traffic police officers were visited by the Acting Director General of the Police Matjaž Šinkovec and director of the Uniformed Police Directorate Danijel Žibret; work and equipment of the unit was today at the disposal of media representatives.

History of the unit

The beginnings of the specialized unit for traffic control (SENP) reach back to 1973, when in the context of the Militia protection unit in the National Secretariat for the Interior, a systematized group of 6 militiamen was formed, who were responsible for road traffic control (goods transport, speed measurements, vehicle loads, etc). Since the beginning they were working across in the entire territory of the state, especially on the main traffic routes. Due to numerous measures and greater working demands, the group expanded into a section and later into an independent unit of the Militia protection unit. During the reorganization of the Militia protection unit, the National Traffic Militia Station was established, which was re-designated into the National Traffic Police Station following Slovenia's independence.

In 2005, during the reorganization of the former Police Protection Unit, the unit obtained its current name and became an internal organizational unit of the Traffic Police Sector of the Uniformed Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate; nowadays it also has the status of offence authority within the police.

With the change of traffic flow in Slovenia and the constant increase of, mainly goods transport, the unit continued to upgrade its technical equipment and professional training. Nowadays, there are 27 systematised workplaces; namely, 23 uniformed (head of the unit, two deputy heads of the unit and 20 police officers) and four professional-technical workplaces (maintenance engineer and three administrators).

Police officers of the specialised unit for traffic control also participate annually in international training, where their knowledge and experience is comparable to similar units in Europe.

Tasks

Police officers of SENP carry out their tasks on the main transit routes all over Slovenia, while the priority lies on the transit motorways (North - South, East - West) and all major and regional roads.

Work is conducted on the basis of a monthly plan, which is harmonised in accordance with the Traffic Police Sector, external institutions that cooperate with the unit (Transport Inspectorate, Labour Inspectorate, Veterinary and Customs Administration, etc), police stations and border police stations, specialised unit for state border control at the Border Police Section, Air Support Unit and Security and Protection Office.

Technical equipment

Police officers use various technical equipment and aids when establishing infringements of road traffic regulations:

• vehicles with an integrated video-surveillance system PROVIDA (in civil and white-blue vehicles),
• equipment for establishing road worthiness of motor and trailer vehicles - various meters (exhaust emissions, break fluid temperature, sound level, tyre profile, road worthiness of connecting assemblies of motor and trailer vehicles) and regloscope,
• equipment and programs for data check from digital and analogue tachographs,
• equipment for determining the weight of motor and trailer vehicles, including a program for data processing,
• stationary speedometers with associated equipment for data processing,
• other technical equipment, for instance height and tape meters, digital cameras and video cameras.

Since the establishment of offence authorities within the police at the end of 2005, SENP police officers have carried out 25,085 procedures with drivers and other road traffic participants, where they established 23,762 infringements of various regulations.

On the basis of determined infringements, 20,992 payment orders were issued, 1,133 fines were issued immediately on the spot, while 1,637 decisions under fast-track proceedings and accusation proposals (lodged to competent local courts) were issued as well.

Infringements that stand out include two record speedings; namely, one driver was driving on the highway with an average speed significantly higher than 230 km/h (measured with PROVIDA), the other driver passed a stationary speedometer at more than 200 km/h.

They considered also an overloaded vehicle, which weighed almost 60 tonnes (40 tonnes is permitted) and the speeding of a group of vehicles, which drove downhill past a stationary speedometer at a speed of 134 km/h (80 km/h is permitted).

Also among the details is the capture of the drivers of two stolen foreign private cars of high price range.