So,on my new Merc,I have the speed radar.Ive clocked cars doing over 90 and a double deck parcel lorry rolling down the M6,m42 hill at 72mph!!
Whats the fastest speed you have seen?
98mph calculated, as the speedo only read to 80mph and the needle was hard against the stop at about the 90 mark, if it was there.
11R 22.5 tyres, RTO 12513, 3,7s. 
On the DAF I once got passed by a bike. I thought it was a cannon ball, by the time he merged back into my lane he was almost out of range of the radar. I managed to look down just in time to see 220km/h, on the M5. Since then I’m sure I’ve seen cars driving faster than that but our current trucks have no radars so can’t verify.
yes i like clocking other motors as well…early morning’s heading south on the A34…the deckers that i overtake going uphill will usually come hammering by me on the next downhill section doing 70 ish 
nothing like the '80’s though night trunking on the M1 doing 75 and the Irish lads would come cruising by like you were going backwards 
ETS:
On the DAF I once got passed by a bike.
How embarrassing is that 
Suedehead:
ETS:
On the DAF I once got passed by a bike.How embarrassing is that
i believe it was a penny farthing
One wonders how they get away with doing 75mph down a hill.Doesnt it come up as an infringement…
Sploom:
So,on my new Merc,I have the speed radar.Ive clocked cars doing over 90 and a double deck parcel lorry rolling down the M6,m42 hill at 72mph!!
Whats the fastest speed you have seen?
Same. Most of the time the fast ones are in an outer lane so it doesn’t register. But I have had someone pull into my lane doing 120.
Yes,I noticed that.They are going so fast,all they can do is hold it between the white lines
Sploom:
One wonders how they get away with doing 75mph down a hill.Doesnt it come up as an infringement…
Nope only registers an over speed if you continue for over a minute
Sploom:
One wonders how they get away with doing 75mph down a hill.Doesnt it come up as an infringement…
I get a warning after maybe 45 seconds? And have maybe 15 seconds? to get back down below 56 before it records as an overspeed. Is that not how they all work?
Yes ,probably
Sploom:
One wonders how they get away with doing 75mph down a hill.Doesnt it come up as an infringement…
Not everyone cares about trivial pish like infringements.
I usually see cars doing 70-80 on single carriageways, as they overtake me and pull in.
A while back I used to drive Colney Hatch Lane between the A406 and Muswell Hill, most of which is a 20mph zone, but would see plenty of cars doing 30 through the 20 zone.
At the other end of the scale, I’d see cars on the M1 doing 35ish between J1 & J5.
These are all during the night/early hours of the morning.
stu675:
Sploom:
One wonders how they get away with doing 75mph down a hill.Doesnt it come up as an infringement…I get a warning after maybe 45 seconds? And have maybe 15 seconds? to get back down below 56 before it records as an overspeed. Is that not how they all work?
It is how they work, at least on modern digi-tachos, however:-
An overspeed is NOT an infringement of UK road traffic laws.
An overspeeed records that you were proceeding at a speed greater than 90 kmh for more than a minute.
The legal speed limit for an HGV, on a motorway in the UK, is 60 mph, which is more than 90kmh.
If you’re on a long downhill section of motorway and keep your speed to 60 mph or below, you are not breaking any law. Therefore you have not committed an infringement.
Your company can decide that they do not want you to drive at over 90, and that in their eyes an overspeed is evidence of an infringement of their rules.
They can issue you with infringement notices, which can include overspeeds. They can even fire you for not abiding by their infringement policies. There would have to be a “fair warning” in their employment contract for that to happen.
As you are no doubt aware, some EU countries have a speed limit of 80kmh for hgvs. The authorities in these countries do indeed take a dim view of overspeeds.
Their thinking goes somewhere along the lines of, “we turn a blind eye to 90kmh, however you are exceeding even that, ie kicking the arse out of it”. An on the spot fine is probably forthcoming. In some of these countries, 80kmh is the limit and any ‘leeway’ is extremely limited.
75mph down hill, can be wound back to 56mph within 15 seconds, just, if you want to. Some companies want you getting from A to B as soon as possible, they are perfectly happy for you to do 75mph down hill. You’ll almost certainly be on your own if the authorities get involved though.
Simon,my boss told me I have to hold it at 56mph and I have an accident at 58mph,I would be looking at going to jail.He told me the truck is only dedigned to do 56 and exceeding this means driving the vehicle beyond its limitations.
I dont know what to make of it
Sploom:
Simon,my boss told me I have to hold it at 56mph and I have an accident at 58mph,I would be looking at going to jail.
Depends how many kittens you killed while doing so.
stu675:
Sploom:
Simon,my boss told me I have to hold it at 56mph and I have an accident at 58mph,I would be looking at going to jail.Depends how many kittens you killed while doing so.
And you’ve got how much truck driving experience?
Sploom:
Simon,my boss told me I have to hold it at 56mph and I have an accident at 58mph,I would be looking at going to jail.He told me the truck is only dedigned to do 56 and exceeding this means driving the vehicle beyond its limitations.
I dont know what to make of it
He’s making it up, or he’s a complete idiot. It has to be one or the other.
Saying that, it’s possibly both.
Do you really think that trucks are built with such small safety margins, that driving 2 mph faster will exceed its limitations?
Having an accident at 58 mph will not mean jail because of that extra 2 mph either. You might go to jail, very unlikely, but you might. 2 mph will not be the reason for it though.
However, he is your boss, it’s his truck. If he considers an overspeed to be an infringement, his rules, his prerogative. So don’t get overspeed warnings.
In the 90s I used to drive a night trunk, from Glasgow South. This meant going down what was known as ‘the ski jump’. The A74, from Beattock down to the Coatsgate, on the old dual carriageway. It went under the old archway railway bridge, now replaced by a straight steel span. You can see it from the motorway, the old road is still there but they’ve dug up one of the carriageways, although the bridges are still dual’ width. It was quite normal to go down there at 70mph+, 2 abreast, and have a Paddy come howling down behind you going even faster. Fully freighted trucks, granted only at 38 tonnes (well we were anyway), but on 5 axles not 6. They were built with higher safety margins than modern trucks■■?
Sploom:
Simon,my boss told me I have to hold it at 56mph and I have an accident at 58mph,I would be looking at going to jail.He told me the truck is only dedigned to do 56 and exceeding this means driving the vehicle beyond its limitations.
I dont know what to make of it
He’s right to a point. But so is Simon. I mean its not like the doors and wheels will fall off at 92kph but by the same token the 90k limit is to do with design and construction and type approval certification for the vehicle